Million-dollar home market taking off in Las Cruces

A home that sells for almost $3 million in Las Cruces?

Oh, yes. In fact, the luxury home market is growing in this area.

“Million-dollar-plus properties have been selling faster than less expensive models,” said Keller Williams Realty of Las Cruces real estate broker Levi Nolasco.

Twenty-four homes priced at $1 million or higher sold within the last year, not only in Las Cruces, but also in Mesilla; Hatch; Rincon; Santa Teresa; Anthony, New Mexico; and in Cloudcroft; Nolasco said. Sale prices ranged from $1 million to $3.3 million.

Most of the sales have taken place since 2018, Nolasco said, and the market has “really been picking up the last couple of years.” Nearly a dozen more homes with $1 million-plus price tags are for sale in the area right now, he said.

“It’s really exploding,” said Jaret Lane, another Keller Williams real estate broker.

A $2.9 million home on Mystic Winds Court in the Talavera area is now on the market. The builder is Marquez Wrought Iron, Inc. Nolasco and Lane are co-brokers on the home.

The 8,500 square-foot house has state-of-the-art engineering, Nolasco said, is all-app based, has cameras and an intercom in every room, a huge stone fireplace, a butler’s pantry and wine rack, a security system with exterior cameras that have 300-foot views, a dining room that will include a 15-foot redwood table, unique light fixtures throughout, bi-fold glass doors that open onto an interior courtyard, and a massive six-foot by 10-foot front door. There is even a shower for the family dog.

The owner suite includes two walk-in closets; a movie projector and sliding screen; a soaking tub with a spectacular view of the Organ Mountains; and a shower with dual waterfall, a $5,000 showerhead and gray stone walls instead of tile.

The three-door garage is almost 2,200 square feet in size and has outlets to accommodate electric vehicles.

The house’s interior catwalk and balcony offer additional spectacular views of the Organs, and the upstairs space is ideal for an in-home office, Nolasco said.

The outdoor perimeter fence, above which rises the Organs, is made of marble that produces spectacular colors when it’s wet, Lane said, and perfectly complements the house, Marquez Wrought Iron, Inc. said.

There is also an outdoor fireplace; landscaping will include different sizes of river rock and natural grass.

The industrial modern house was constructed with 70 tons of steel, including an all-steel shell, Marquez Wrought Iron, Inc. said, and 380 yards of concrete, including all concrete floors. The concrete was poured at 2 a.m. one Saturday morning (it sets faster in cooler temperatures), Marquez said, and workers were already walking on it by 11 a.m. At about 4,000 pounds per square inch, the concrete makes for an extremely strong solid foundation.

The house has “super clean, straight lines,” Marquez  said. “It’s not ‘busy,’ not cluttered,” he said. “We’re super happy with it.”

With the help of more than 15 subcontractors, Marquez built the house from his own design, starting about a year ago.

The final product is “a lot more than we hoped for,” said Marquez, who began working in construction at age 14 or 15, working with his father, a homebuilder in Doña Ana.

With high-end buyers “already knocking on the door,” Marquez Wrought Iron, Inc. and other luxury home builders are going to stay busy, Lane said.

Selling luxury homes in Las Cruces means targeting potential buyers who live in the area and looking out of state, said Nolasco, a former buyer’s agent assistant in Beverly Hills, California, and former producer for HGTV’s “House Hunters.”

Contact Nolasco at 575-800-9028 and levinm@kw.com. Visit levilascruces.kw.com.