Closing Costs in New Mexico 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide

· ✓ Last verified Sep 30, 2026 · March 17, 2026 · by AskDoss Editorial Team ·Home Buying · 6 min read

New Mexico has no state tax on deeds. County clerks charge $25 per recorded document, not per page. The Superintendent of Insurance sets title premiums. Santa Fe voters added a city excise tax on home sales: buyers there pay 3% of the price above $1,029,000.

No state deed tax, but Santa Fe charges 3% above $1,029,000

The Taxation and Revenue Department’s “All NM Taxes” list has no deed, transfer or mortgage tax.

Santa Fe’s ordinance cites NMSA § 3-18-2(D) as its authority. That section allows municipal excise taxes on products and services “named specifically in the ordinance” if “the ordinance is approved by a majority vote in the municipality.” A 2008 bill to bar municipal transfer taxes, SB 160, passed the Senate 34-3 and died in the House.

Santa Fe voters approved the High-End Excise Tax (city code Chapter 18-18) in November 2023. A district court enjoined it on May 24, 2024. The city says the Court of Appeals dissolved the injunction on October 27, 2025, and sales closing from that date owe the tax.

  • Rate and base: The tax is 3% of the price above a threshold. Through April 30, 2026 the threshold was $1,000,000. Since May 1, 2026 it has been $1,029,000. Each May 1 it rises with the western-region CPI, and it stays the same if the index doesn’t rise. The price counts “without deduction for any lien, mortgage,” and “the value of concessions shall be included.”
  • Payer: The ordinance says the tax “is due and payable by the purchaser at the time of transfer.” If a title insurance agent handles the sale, the agent collects the tax and a notarized report from the buyer. Both go to the city “within thirty (30) days of the date of the property transfer.”
  • Exempt: commercial property and undeveloped land. Also exempt are gifts, transfers at death, interspousal transfers, foreclosure and sheriff’s deeds, and homes sold under affordability restrictions. A transfer between parents and children, or grandparents and grandchildren, is exempt if the home is the transferor’s principal residence.

Worked example: a buyer pays $1,200,000 for a Santa Fe house after May 1, 2026. That is $171,000 above the threshold, so the tax is 3% of $171,000, or $5,130.

$25 a document at the county clerk, plus the assessor’s affidavit

NMSA § 14-8-15(B): “Unless otherwise specified by law, the county clerk shall collect a recording fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each document filed or recorded.” The section’s one add-on is for a document with “more than ten entries to the county recording index”: another $25 “for each additional block of ten or fewer entries.” A financed purchase records a deed and a mortgage, two documents, so the base charge is $50.

Section 7-38-12.1 adds a second filing. With a residential deed or real estate contract, the buyer or seller (or an agent) must file a residential property transfer declaration affidavit with the county assessor “within thirty days” after recording. The affidavit states “the full consideration” and any “seller incentives.” Section 7-38-12.2 makes intentionally refusing to file on time, or knowingly making a false statement on it, a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000. Gifts, estate distributions, and transfers between spouses or between parent and child for nominal consideration don’t need one.

One title premium schedule, set by the Superintendent

NMSA § 59A-30-6(A): the Superintendent of Insurance “shall promulgate the premium rates,” and “No premium that has not been promulgated or approved by the superintendent shall be charged.” Subsection (E) lets an insurer file lower rates “for a specific county or counties.” Once approved, those rates are mandatory for that insurer in those counties. Rule 13.14.9.10 NMAC puts the “examination of the title” inside the premium: “No other rates or charges may be charged for title insurance or title services.” Escrow and closing fees are a different matter. Section 59A-30-6(A) says the Superintendent “shall not promulgate charges” other than premium rates, so those fees are not on OSI’s schedule, and your settlement statement will show what the company charges.

OSI’s table adopted June 27, 2025:

  • A loan policy issued with the owner’s policy costs $100 for coverage up to the owner’s policy amount. Coverage above that amount costs 90% of the basic rate.
  • A loan policy issued alone costs 90% of the full basic premium rate.
  • If the seller has an owner’s policy, the buyer’s owner’s policy costs 75% to 90% of the basic rate, depending on the old policy’s age. The discount covers only the old policy’s amount. The agent must have “a complete copy of all schedules of the prior policy” before the title search starts (13.14.6.11 NMAC). The premium can’t go below the minimum owner’s premium.

Since a 2023 amendment, § 59A-30-8(A) sets the rate hearing “no earlier than November 1 of every third calendar year.” The law doesn’t say whether the buyer or the seller pays for the owner’s policy. Check your purchase agreement for that.

Guardian Abstract (1978): what the title company may prepare

In State Bar v. Guardian Abstract & Title Co., 1978-NMSC-096, the Supreme Court held that the title company “is authorized to fill in the blanks on statutory forms.” The forms listed include warranty and quitclaim deeds, mortgages, real estate contracts and the “closing statement form allocating the costs of the transaction.” The court enjoined the defendants “from giving advice to their clients about the legal effect of the language contained in, or the use of, any particular forms, or from choosing between competing forms.” It also barred “a separate additional charge to fill in blanks.” In the first opinion, 1978-NMSC-016, the court held that filling in blanks is reserved to lawyers when it “affects substantial legal rights” and protecting those rights takes more than an average citizen’s legal knowledge.

Housing New Mexico second mortgages for closing cash

Housing New Mexico (the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority) offers these loans only through its participating lenders. Each one sits on a FirstHome or HomeForward first mortgage, and both require a credit score of at least 620. FirstHome requires pre-purchase homebuyer counseling for every borrower; HomeForward requires it for first-time buyers only.

  • FirstDown is a fixed-rate second mortgage for first-time buyers. It “provides up to 4% of the home sales price to assist with down payment and closing costs” and “must be combined with the FirstHome program.”
  • HomeForward DPA goes with a HomeForward first mortgage, which repeat buyers can also use. Under the July 20, 2026 program policy, it is a fixed-rate, amortizing second mortgage of up to 3% of the purchase price, with a 15-year or 10-year term. It covers the down payment only, except on USDA or VA loans, where it “may be used to cover closing costs for these loan types only.” The October 2025 fact sheet also lists HUD Section 184 loans, so confirm with your lender.
  • New Homes for New Mexico is for first-time buyers of a newly built starter home from a builder Housing New Mexico has approved, using FirstHome or HomeForward. Its September 2026 FAQ describes a zero-interest, non-amortizing loan of $50,000, or $75,000 in Los Alamos, Santa Fe and Taos counties. The funds “may be used to pay down payment and closing costs,” and the full balance comes due if you sell, refinance, rent out or transfer the home, or stop living in it. You can’t add any other Housing New Mexico down payment loan to it.
  • HomeNow is out of funds. Housing New Mexico’s lender memo 2025-16 (October 1, 2025) says the program’s “funds have been depleted” and that lenders may “request a program change from HomeNow to FirstDown.” No later lender memo announces new funds, and the September 3, 2026 program brochure leaves HomeNow out, although it still appears on the agency’s mortgage programs page.

Tools: down payment calculator, what can I afford calculator, mortgage pre-approval.

New Mexico closing questions

I’m buying a $900,000 house in Santa Fe. Do I owe the excise tax?

No. The price is below the $1,029,000 threshold, which has applied since May 1, 2026.

Is the price on the assessor’s affidavit public?

Section 7-38-12.1 says it isn’t. The affidavit is “used only for analytical and statistical purposes,” the assessor keeps it “as a confidential record,” and it is “not part of the valuation record.”

Can one title agency quote a lower premium than another?

Only if its insurer has a lower rate approved for your county under § 59A-30-6(E). Rule 13.14.9.12 NMAC bars “a credit, discount or rebate that is not authorized.”

Is the loan policy cheaper on a refinance?

Yes, if the agent gets the prior loan policy or a closing statement proving it, with title in the same borrower on the same property. Section 59A-30-6.1 caps the premium on the old policy’s amount at 40% to 80% of the basic rate, by the prior policy’s age (under 20 years). Extra coverage costs 90%, and the minimum loan premium still applies.

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