Jan. 6—New Mexico seems to have seen a slowdown in growth — at least according to one report.
U-Haul Growth Index data released this month shows the Land of Enchantment dropped 21 spots in 2024 to No. 37 among the states with the largest number of one-way customers using the rental company’s services.
The latest ranking essentially removes New Mexico from the list of “net-gain” states, which largely include those in the southern region. Similar to New Mexico, Colorado dropped 31 spots to No. 40, and Nevada dropped 24 spots to No. 35 on the list.
South Carolina ranked No. 1 and North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Texas rounded out the top five for a second year in a row, albeit in slightly different orders. California ranked dead last for the fifth year in a row, according to U-Haul.
The drop in ranking for New Mexico follows three years of placing as a “net-gain” state, meaning more one-way travelers came to New Mexico with U-Haul vehicles than left. In 2024, according to U-Haul, one-way traffic into the Land of Enchantment was 49.5% and 50.5% for departures — a turnaround from 2023 when more one-way traffic came into the state than left.
New Mexico ranked No. 16 in the report in 2023, No. 19 in 2022 and No. 10 in 2021 — its highest ranking in the past 10 years of available U-Haul data.
U-Haul noted that the state’s highest growth areas include Alamogordo, Carlsbad, Clovis, Deming, Gallup, Ruidoso Downs, Santa Fe, Santa Rosa, Taos, and Truth or Consequences.
Belen and Las Cruces were break-even markets and Albuquerque wasn’t listed at all, meaning more U-Hauls drove away from the Duke City than arrived, according to U-Haul spokesperson Jeff Lockridge.
The U-Haul data for New Mexico comes as the state has experienced climbing home prices. According to data from the New Mexico Association of Realtors, the median sales price from December 2023 through November 2024 increased by more than $22,000 across the state and by more than $38,000 in Bernalillo County.
Christopher Shain Tanner, the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors president and a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty, doesn’t see those increases in home prices as a bad thing — and he doesn’t believe they have led people to move away from New Mexico.
He said movers could be using other moving services.
If there were to be a correlation between New Mexico’s drop in ranking and Albuquerque not being listed as a “net-gain” market, Tanner said, it might have some to do with a lack of housing supply.
“That’s our biggest challenge right now, and why it still is considered to be a seller’s market is because of the fact that inventory is low,” Tanner said. “Demand is there, but the supply isn’t keeping up with that demand.”