ALBUQUERQUE — Homelessness and housing costs across New Mexico remain stubbornly high despite the state and city of Albuquerque pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into housing and homelessness programs in recent years, according to a new government report — and House Republicans say the spending has produced little accountability and even fewer results.
Housing New Mexico, the quasi-governmental mortgage finance authority, presented its 2026 updated Housing Strategy report to a legislative oversight committee on May 18. The report found nearly half of all New Mexico renters — 49% — are cost-burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing. One in 5 homeowners faces the same strain. Average multifamily rents have risen 48% over the past decade, hitting $1,223 per month statewide in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The 2025 Point-in-Time count identified 2,960 people experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque and 1,723 in the rest of the state — numbers that have trended upward in recent years even as government spending on the problem has increased.
A recent Legislative Finance Committee report found homelessness in New Mexico continued to rise despite the state spending more than half a billion dollars on housing and homelessness initiatives over three years, House Republicans noted Monday.
“New Mexicans are watching hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars get poured into homelessness programs while the crisis keeps getting worse,” House Republicans said in a statement. “For years, Democrat leaders have continued throwing taxpayer money at the problem without accountability or measurable results. That approach has completely failed.”
Rep. Nicole Chavez, R-Albuquerque, said she sent a formal letter to Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller in May 2025 demanding a breakdown of the city’s homelessness spending, a description of specific programs and services funded, and the performance metrics used to evaluate them. She said Keller never responded.
“Taxpayers want to know where these dollars are going and why they are not working,” Chavez said.
Housing New Mexico officials, for their part, touted progress and pointed to new tools to accelerate affordability. Senior Director of Policy and Planning Robyn Powell told legislators the state has invested nearly $154 million through its housing trust fund in about 10,000 households since 2023. Powell recommended lawmakers scrutinize zoning regulations and reduce red tape to speed construction of affordable developments.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed two housing-related bills following the 2026 legislative session. House Bill 200 created the New Homes for New Mexico program, offering up to $50,000 in down payment assistance for low- and moderate-income buyers of new construction in most counties and up to $75,000 in higher-cost markets, including Santa Fe, Taos and Los Alamos counties. Senate Bill 151 established gross receipts tax exemptions on construction materials and labor for qualifying affordable multifamily projects.
The agency’s report projects New Mexico will need nearly 58,000 additional housing units by 2045, with roughly 90% of that need concentrated in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Doña Ana and Santa Fe counties. The cost burden is sharpest for the lowest earners: more than 4 in 5 households below 30% of the area median income are cost-burdened, as are 59% of single mothers.
The report also found 27% of New Mexicans ages 25 to 34 were living in the homes of older relatives as of 2023, up from 17% in 2010 — a sign of pent-up demand the agency says will outlast the state’s current slow population growth.
