Farmington listed as No. 1 city in the country with the largest increase in home cost

FARMINGTON, N.M. – If you’re a homeowner in Farmington, you’re in luck.

According to the National Association of Realtors, Farmington is the No. 1 city in the country where the value of homes has increased the most. Even beating out cities in states like Florida and the Carolinas.

Part of the reason for the increase has to do with supply and demand, according to Caleb Jacobo, real estate broker at R1 New Mexico and owner of Jacobo Real Estate.

“What we are seeing right now is low inventory,” said Jacobo. 

Making the housing market in Farmington almost as wild as its wild west roots.

“Looking at the market statistics it shows us year after year what the increase is– and it’s crazy to see the market in 2019 (compared) to the market in 2023,” Jacobo said. 

Like how much the average price of a home has gone up. Jacobo says each year he’s seen around a 4% increase until now.

“Comparing our average sales price from 2022 from 2023 we had seen about a 9.5% change,” he said. 

That bumped the average sale price to $244,000 compared to 2019, when it was $206,000.

“Home values got so expensive to where these first-time home buyers got placed out of the market, so they can’t afford a house anymore,” Jacobo said. “If a buyer gets prequalified for $120,000 we’re just not seeing those numbers anymore, we are seeing more expensive numbers.”

And low inventory isn’t the only contributing factor. Jacobo says more people are choosing to call Farmington home.

“There has been people that I have worked with that have moved from California, they’ve moved from Florida, and they move here specifically to Farmington because of things we have to offer here like outdoor recreation, you drive 40 minutes and you’re in Colorado,” Jacobo added. “our cost of living is really low it’s not like bigger cities and even like Albuquerque.”

Jacobo says if there is one thing working in favor of first-time home buyers right now it’s New Mexico’s Down Payment Advantage Program, which grants first-time buyers $25,000 to help them afford a more expensive house.