For the last seven years, I have been collecting information on the New Mexico Apartment market - including rents, occupancy, sales, taxes, pictures, maps, demographics, owners, sales and available properties. In 1992, I added Rio Rancho & Santa Fe, and quickly followed with Las Cruces, El Paso, and several smaller cities around New Mexico. Previously, these two markets were covered in a general state of New Mexico Report, but I have since decided that these two markets deserve their own coverage - and on a quarterly basis. As an owner of apartments in these metro areas, I thought you might be interested to know factual data about the marketplace, and what’s driving the changes. El Paso According to our database, El Paso contains approximately 23,750 in 190 different apartment communities. During the last two years, we have surveyed over 15,000 units for rental and occupancy rates. According to our records, the following graphs represent market conditions. As you can see, rents reached their pinnacle in the second quarter of 1995, bottomed out in the third quarter of 1995, and recovered since that time. El Paso’s vacancy rate also increased over the same time period, with it peaking at 12% during the first quarter of 1996. Although the decrease in rents was less than $.08 per square foot, the timing does coincide with the devaluation of the peso, and a couple hundred new units that came online during that time. Las Cruces According to our database, Las Cruces contains approximately 4,184 in 183 different apartment communities. During the last two years, we have surveyed over 2,000 apartment units for rental and occupancy rates The graph to the left indicates that Las Cruces rents peaked during the 3rd Quarter of 1995, and have suffered seasonal increases and decreases since that time. The occupancy for the same period decreased, and can be attributed to a declining student enrollment base at New Mexico State University and an increase in new apartment construction.