Dona Ana South

Dona Ana South is the MLS’s name for the north valley: the farmland that lies between the north side of Las Cruces and the village of Doña Ana. Valley Drive and Doña Ana Road run through it, and the Rio Grande is a short way to the west.

This is valley-floor country, green where the mesa neighborhoods are not. Irrigation ditches, pecan orchards and fields are still part of the landscape, and many homes stand on lots of a third of an acre to two acres, with room for a shop, a garden or animals where the zoning allows.

Most of the homes were built from the 1980s on, though some are far older and a few are new. Site-built homes are the majority, with manufactured homes among them, and small subdivisions such as Saddle Creek Estates and Country Acre sit among the individual parcels. Homeowner associations are uncommon.

Prices here are generally moderate. The homes that reach $500,000 and above tend to be the larger custom homes on an acre or more.

As elsewhere in the valley, water source, irrigation rights and septic are worth confirming property by property. Town is close: the north side of Las Cruces is a few minutes down Valley Drive.