Santa Fe, NM short-term rental market report (2026)
Santa Fe County, New Mexico. Rules, revenue, home values, demand, climate, reach and risk, each figure with its source.
- RulesStrict (4/5)
- 4-BR typical value$740K
- FEMA riskRelatively Moderate
- Demand drivers within 50 mi1
- People within 300 mi8.2 million
- ClimateSummer-peak
Everything STR HUB holds on Santa Fe, NM in one place, in the order an investor needs it: whether you can operate, what the numbers are, why and when people come, who can reach it, and what could go wrong.
Every figure comes from a named dataset listed under Sources and method, dated September 21, 2026. Where we do not hold a figure, that part of the report is left out rather than estimated. The Opportunity Score here is partial: it was calculated without revenue data, with the cash-flow component assumed to be below average, so it can understate the market.
Can you operate in Santa Fe?
| Rule | What we hold on file |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | City of Santa Fe (Growth Management/Land Use); Santa Fe County has separate, differing rules outside city limits. |
| Permit or licence | City of Santa Fe Short-Term Rental Permit under Ordinance No. 2020-35, effective January 1, 2021; requires neighbor notification and a fire inspection before issuance. |
| Permit fee | Reported (secondary source) at roughly $425 in first-year fees for a residential-zone permit; not independently confirmed against a current city fee schedule. |
| Cap on rentals | Citywide cap of 1,000 residential STR permits, limited to one permit per person; once the cap is reached, new entrants generally must acquire an existing permit rather than obtain a new one. |
| Owner occupancy | Not confirmed whether required for all permit types; some secondary reporting suggests rules differ between owner-occupied and non-owner-occupied units, but this was not independently verified. |
| Lodging and sales taxes | New Mexico's statewide Gross Receipts Tax applies, plus the City of Santa Fe's local Lodgers' Tax. |
| Permit transfers on sale | Permits do not transfer with the property on sale — a new owner cannot inherit the prior owner's permit and must obtain their own (subject to the citywide cap). |
Rules for Santa Fe last verified September 20, 2026. Rules change, and a city rating does not cover HOA or deed restrictions. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction before you buy or list.
Which way the rules are moving
Stable. The rules we hold report no recent or pending change.
permits at 1,000 citywide, with a strict limit of one permit per person, under Ordinance No. 2020-35 (effective January 1, 2021).
Classified from the regulation text we publish; a direction is only kept when the sentence it rests on appears word for word in that text.
The numbers
We have not verified revenue figures for this market yet.
Home values in Santa Fe County
Zillow Home Value Index: county-wide typical values for Santa Fe County, not list prices. A specific property can sit well above or below them.
What it costs to own
Screening figures, not a bill or a quote. The tax rate is a county-wide median for owner-occupied homes (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2018-2022); second homes and rentals are often taxed more heavily, and a purchase usually resets the assessed value. Expected annual loss is from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Housing market momentum
County-level, for-sale housing market: it says nothing directly about STR bookings. A relative ranking among tracked markets, not a forecast. Sources: Realtor.com Economic Research, U.S. Census Bureau, Zillow Home Value Index.
Why people come
One demand driver sits within 50 miles of Santa Fe. Ordered by published attendance. Attendance appears only where a source publishes it.
Attractions
- Santa Fe Plaza & Canyon Road
- When
- Year-round; peaks in summer (Indian Market and Spanish Market), autumn and at Christmas.
- STR angle
- A 400-year-old plaza ringed by museums, galleries and the opera season, attracting older, higher-spending cultural travellers. Santa Fe caps the number of STR permits in residential areas and limits one per owner, so permit availability is the first question.
When they come
Summer-peak climate: May to September is comfortable and December to February highs average under 45°F. 7 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F, and 2 months average six inches or more of snow. Warmest month: July (average high 84°F). Coldest: January (average low 21°F).
- Jan35°21°ColdSnow
- Feb38°22°ColdSnow
- Mar49°30°Cool
- Apr62°38°Comfortable
- May71°48°Comfortable
- Jun79°57°Comfortable
- Jul84°62°Comfortable
- Aug82°61°Comfortable
- Sep76°55°Comfortable
- Oct61°42°Comfortable
- Nov49°32°Cool
- Dec39°25°Cold
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°F) | 35 | 38 | 49 | 62 | 71 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 76 | 61 | 49 | 39 |
| Average low (°F) | 21 | 22 | 30 | 38 | 48 | 57 | 62 | 61 | 55 | 42 | 32 | 25 |
| Precipitation (in) | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Snowfall (in) | 7.1 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 4.1 |
| Sunshine (hours a day) | 8.5 | 9.6 | 10.2 | 12.0 | 12.9 | 13.0 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 11.4 | 10.4 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
This is climate and events, not booking data. Monthly normals are 2019-2023 averages from the Open-Meteo Historical Weather API (ERA5 reanalysis) at the market pin. We do not hold monthly occupancy or rate data for this market.
Who can reach it
Largest counties within 150 miles
| County | Population |
|---|---|
| Bernalillo County, NM | 674,692 |
| Santa Fe County, NM | 154,481 |
| Sandoval County, NM | 149,460 |
County populations (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2018-2022) summed for every county whose centre lies within each straight-line radius. Straight lines are shorter than roads, so read these as generous upper bounds, not drive-time counts.
What could go wrong
| Hazard | FEMA rating | Score (0-100) |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively High | 98.2 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 94.1 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 89.5 |
| River flooding | Relatively Moderate | 88.4 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 67.6 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 24.5 |
This is a county-level index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination. A coastal or wildfire-fringe rental can carry far more exposure than its county average suggests. FEMA does not model hurricane and coastal flooding for this county, which is not the same as zero risk. Get property-level flood, wind and wildfire quotes before you buy.
Market context
Housing and jobs in Santa Fe County
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2018-2022. Vacation-home share is housing units held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. All three describe the whole county, not one town or neighbourhood.
What is within 15 km of the Santa Fe pin
Counts of features mapped in OpenStreetMap within 15 km of the market pin. A fixed radius favours dense metros, and map coverage varies by area.
Similar markets
The 4 tracked markets whose numbers sit closest to Santa Fe's. Each links to its own report.
Closest by normalised distance across the figures both markets hold (typical 4BR value, revenue, occupancy, regulation rating, vacation-home share, tourism job share, 4+ bedroom share, amenity score, population within 300 miles, comfortable months and FEMA risk score). At most 2 of the 4 come from New Mexico, so the list is not just the neighbours. Similar numbers do not mean similar rules: check each market's regulation section.
See Santa Fe on the map
Open Santa Fe on the National STR Map to see it against its neighbours, switch overlays and run the deal calculator on your own assumptions.
Santa Fe STR questions, answered from the data
Is Airbnb legal in Santa Fe?
STR HUB rates Santa Fe's short-term rental rules 4/5 (Strict) on a scale from 1 (relaxed) to 5 (very strict). That rating was derived from the regulation text we hold and has not yet been reviewed by a person. Permit rule on file: City of Santa Fe Short-Term Rental Permit under Ordinance No. 2020-35, effective January 1, 2021; requires neighbor notification and a fire inspection before issuance. Cap on file: Citywide cap of 1,000 residential STR permits, limited to one permit per person; once the cap is reached, new entrants generally must acquire an existing permit rather than obtain… Rules change, so confirm current requirements with the local jurisdiction before you buy or list.
How much does a 4-bedroom home cost in Santa Fe?
The typical 4-bedroom home in Santa Fe County is valued at $739,549 (Zillow Home Value Index), and the typical home of any size at $552,709, with all-home values up 0.9% over the past year. These are county-wide typical values, not list prices.
What brings visitors to Santa Fe?
One demand driver sits within 50 miles of Santa Fe: Santa Fe Plaza & Canyon Road. Attendance is shown only where a source publishes it, and each driver's source is linked in the report.
What natural hazards affect Santa Fe?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Santa Fe County "Relatively Moderate" overall, with a score of 86.0 out of 100 (a national percentile). The highest-scoring hazards we track there are wildfire and winter weather. It is a county-wide index, not an insurance quote or a flood-zone determination.
When is the weather best in Santa Fe?
7 of 12 months have an average high between 60°F and 88°F (April, May, June, July, August, September and October). Summer-peak climate: May to September is comfortable and December to February highs average under 45°F. These are 2019-2023 climate normals, not booking data.
Sources and method
- Regulation summary and strictness rating: STR Agent HUB regulation research (official source: santafenm.gov).
- Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), county level. Data provided by Zillow Group.
- Housing, employment and population figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, 2018-2022.
- Natural hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, county level.
- Amenity counts: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Climate normals: Open-Meteo Historical Weather API (CC BY 4.0), 2019-2023 averages.
- Demand drivers: each entry links its own published source in the list above.
Figures come from the STR HUB national dataset dated September 21, 2026 and this page is regenerated whenever that dataset is rebuilt. County-level figures describe Santa Fe County as a whole, not one street or neighbourhood. The Opportunity Score (0-100) is a screening heuristic that weighs revenue (35%), regulatory climate (25%), tourism employment (15%), nearby amenities (15%) and large-home supply (10%) relative to the other tracked markets.
Confirm before you act. Short-term rental rules change. Confirm current requirements with the jurisdiction, and work with a licensed local agent who knows which properties can legally operate. This report is screening data, not investment, legal or tax advice.
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