Happy New Year!

2006 ends with no snow in Las Cruces, even though most of New Mexico and the United States has snow -- Albuquerque has 24 inches! Temperatures here are still in the low 70s, high 60s during the day.

There was a small sprinkling of snow on the peaks of the Organ Mountains this morning, which was gone by early afternoon. This photo was taken just before it began to melt.

Happy New Year!

Tags: Las Cruces, Snow

Las Cruces Housing Market

For about a decade, Las Cruces has been an extremely attractive place to move to -- housing costs were significantly below the national average and the climate and natural beauty made this area a wonderful place to live.

As a result, a lot of people have moved here.

And they have driven up housing prices enormously.

Here's the Real Estate Industry data for the average selling price of a house in Las Cruces for the last 6 years:

2001 - $126,000
2002 - $134,000
2003 - $143,000
2004 - $168,000
2005 - $199,000
2006 - $216,000 (10 month average)

As you can see, the average cost of a house has increased by $90,000 since 2001.

This rapid run-up in prices has caused a lot of disquiet in long-term Crucens. The cost of living is going up, traffic is getting worse, and resource demand is growing exponentially.

Tags: Las Cruces Housing Costs, House Prices, Home Sales

56 Merc

This wonderful 1956 Mercury Montclair is owned by a local citizen. He purchased it new in 1956 and has owned it ever since. This is the original color, although it has been repainted on the outside.






Tags: 1956 Mercury Montclair

Abandoned Silo

An old silo, north of town.



Tags: Silo