In Santa Fe’s Priciest ZIP, Buyers Choose Between Gated Communities or Sprawling Country Estates

Just outside New Mexico’s capital city, 87506 is home to the area’s most expensive real estate.

A house in the Las Campanas gated community, about 20 minutes northwest of Santa Fe’s 400-year-old plaza.

By Jessica Flint | Photographs by Brad Trone for The Wall Street Journal

May 24, 2023 12:01 am ET

In north-central New Mexico, in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is the state’s capital, Santa Fe. The heart of the city—whose population is 89,008, according to census data—is its 400-year-old plaza. But outside of town, the 87506 ZIP Code has Santa Fe’s priciest residential real estate as ranked by median listing price, according to Realtor.com. (News Corp, parent of The Wall Street Journal, operates Realtor.com.) The ZIP Code is a roughly 200-square-mile circle beginning just north of the plaza and extending about 35 minutes northeast and 45 northwest into open land, where gated communities like Las Campanas and large estates offer luxury country living while being close to the city’s culturally-rich energy.

1610

The year Santa Fe was founded,

making it the country’s oldest capital city.

Event of the year

The Santa Fe Opera takes place every summer. It’s known for its unique open-air theater. More than 2,000 performances of nearly 180 different operas—the new, the rarely performed, and the beloved—have been showcased here since this opera’s founding in 1956. This year the season runs June 30 through Aug. 26.

Membership to have

Las Campanas is an approximately 3,458-acre golf community about 20 minutes northwest of Santa Fe’s plaza. The Club at Las Campanas—where membership is by invitation only—has two Jack Nicklaus golf courses, a spa, fitness center, pools, tennis and pickleball courts, an equestrian facility and a 46,000-square-foot clubhouse.  

$2.04 Million

Median list price, down 0.61% year-over-year

$522

Median price per square foot

89

Median days on the market

65

Number of active listings,

up 62.5% year-over-year

Source: Realtor.com (April 2023)