ABQ #1 MOVIE PRODUCTION SITE

Well, I loved the smiling picture of our own Ann Lerner who heads up our city's film liaison office as she reported that MovieMaker magazine has ranked Albquerque as the best place in the nation to make a movie. In a few short years, we have beat out Los Angeles/Hollywood. Imagine. Last year alone there were 12 films or TV series made includng "Breaking Bad" and "The Book of Eli." Way to go. We are ready and I am ready to sell all those people wanting to leave LA like I did, a house!

NM TOP PLACES TO FILM

Variety magazine, which all of us from LA know intimately, hasw ranked NM the third best place to film right behing LA and New York. The survey was of film industry professionals and will published in October. It means that if a film company wants to leave Hollywood, NM is the first choice. The monetary incentives offered here have really helped plus we have new studios and lots more local resources. Of course, now other cities and countries are mimicing us and trying to get that market, but who can compete with our weather and beauty. We offer a 25% rebate while Alaska offers 44%. Big difference in environment though. Movie Maker magazine name ABQ the second-greatest city to live, work and make movies in 2008. Well, ya'all come on now, ya hear????

New Mexico - the New Sundance

The moviemaking industry here in New Mexico just got a huge boost with the announcement of Sundance in our State. Robert Redford who founded the Sundance Institute in 1981, has gone into partnership with the state to devel Sundance in NM at the Los Luceros Ranch north of Santa Fe. Redford plans on developing Native American and Hispanic filmmakers.

MY MAN DENZEL IS IN TOWN AT LAST

The new film, "The Book of Eli" began production at the ABQ Studios last week. We are all hoping there is not a Screen Actors strike and that production can continue.

The television show "Breaking Bad" is still filming and I have made myself available to find locations. They want mid-America looking houses so no flat roofs. Not easy in our town but they have found some in the UNM area.

We love those movies except of course when they block off the streets as they did downtown Friday when I was trying to get to an appointment. Nah, we love 'em anyway.

'BREAKING BAD" IN MY BACKYARD!

For those of us living High Desert area of Albuquerque or users of the Emory Trailhead, know that there will be filming next week in the Trailhead area.

"GAS HOLE" in NM

Oh, I just got the title! "Gas Hole" as in a__hole. Get it? anyway apparently this aspiring Michael Moore producer showed this film in ABQ yesterday at the Guild Cinema. It's neither conservative or liberal but factual. Okay, well I'll go see it on DVD in the Fall. Did anyone see it?

NM Filmakers Conference

The New Mexico Filmakers Conference and First Vision Forum will be held at the Hyatt Regency March 27-29, 2008. There will be workshops and networking opportunties for New Mexico talent. On Thursday night there will be a screening of films by New Mexicans to include winners of Govenrnor's Cup competitions. For more information on the entire conference go to http://www.nmfilm.com/.

Remember if you want to buy or lease property in New Mexico, give me a call.

NM IS A WINNER AT OSCARS!

Who by now doesn't know that No Country for Old Men won the Oscar as best picture and several other awards to boot. What may not be known is that it was filmed here in New Mexico in one of our proud historic towns called Las Vegas. Las Vegas was on the original Santa Fe trail and like Pasadena, CA had rich families from the mid-west settle there at the turn of the century. There are wonderful grand old homes that are being updated and attracting buyers from out-of-state who want to retire in NM but live in elegance. Charming town! I just sold a fast food drive-in to a Taco Bell franchise so even the food is getting upgraded!!

ABQ HOME SALES BUCK THE USA TRENDS

RATES DROP AND BUYERS FLOCK

The 30-year mortgages have dropped steadily as efforts are made to stop the national housing crisis. The Feds are talking about increasing the cap for jumbo loans which will free up buyers for those homes over $600,000 that sit for a long time in our market now. Fixed 30-year rates are below 6% for the first time in months and 15 year rates are hovering just over 5%. Listing prices continue to come down as sellers become more realistic in what the market sees as the worth of their home. The high assumed appreciation dreams have become realistic gains. We have and will continue to see actual home sales go up so no one is really losing value here unless the house has not been maintained. Whereas buyers used to see price reduction as a red flag indicating something was wrong with the home, now they see it as a positive indication that the seller is getting more realistic. What a great time to buy--- lots of inventory, low rates and realistic sellers! What else could one ask for?

It’s actually a good time to sell to because buyers are out there looking with access to good loans and the inventory has not ramped up as it does in Spring. The number of homes that went under contract in January here was significantly increased over the last several months. As other parts of the country begin to show sales, we expect even more out-of-state buyers to come here.

The new home market in ABQ has yet to sort out. Nationally the sales of new homes plunged by a record amount in 2007 and builders have huge backlogs of unsold homes. We are not much different here. Builders have pulled back and I would like to see them target the first time homeowners again. We’ll see.

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