San Antonio’s Housing Inventory Lowest Since 2006

Posted on January 14, 2014 by - Uncategorized

Press Release from the San Antonio Board of REALTORS®

San Antonio’s housing inventory shrank to 4.2 months in November, a number last seen in December 2006. All year the San Antonio inventory has shown decreases, matching numbers not seen since the housing booms of 2005 and 2006. Overall, the city has sold 21,607 homes this year as of November, which is a 17 percent increase over 2012 and the highest year-to-date number sold since 2007. According to the San Antonio Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service, the year-to-date average and median prices have increased as well with the average price rising to $207,650 and the median to $170,200, a seven and six percent increase, respectively.

The average price of a single-family residential home in November 2013 experienced a 10 percent increase from the same month last year, increasing to $214,677. The median price also increased, by six percent, to $172,100 and the total sales saw a three percent year-over-year increase to 1,634.

“Interest rates remain low making homeownership more affordable,” said Steven Gragg, SABOR’s 2013 Chairman of the Board. “With new businesses and jobs coming to the city, more people are looking to purchase a home and settle down here.”

The Milken Institute recently ranked San Antonio 12th on its list of the top 25 “Best-Performing Cities” report which determined placement based on a city’s job creation and retention. San Antonio was one of seven Texas cities that made the list.

This year also showed a steady market in homes priced over $500,000. These sales accounted for 4.47 percent of the total sales for the month of November. Twelve of those homes sold were over one million dollars – twice the amount sold in November of 2012.

“It’s interesting to see the growth in the luxury home market this year,” said Angela Shields, President and CEO of the San Antonio Board of REALTORS®. “This year we’ve had 95 homes in that price range sold, compared to 73 during this same period last year.”

Meanwhile, homes in the mid-range (those priced between $200,000 and $500,000) also showed an increase from last year, with those accounting for 34.21 percent of sales. Homes priced below $200,000 made up 61.14 percent of the total homes sold this month.

Weak Home Sales Numbers Don’t Tell Whole Story, Economist Says

Posted on September 1, 2010 by - Uncategorized

Statistics are thrown around a lot but you have to look at the big picture to really understand the data. I agree with this article. Home sales late last year and early this year were inflated by the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. Of course we were going to see a decline in sales once that tax credit expired. The sky isn’t falling just because this month’s numbers don’t match last year’s inflated numbers.

By Bryan Pope, Associate Editor, Real Estate Center
Release No. 27-0810
COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (Real Estate Center) — Home sales statistics are likely to paint a picture of a weakening market through the end of 2010 and the first half of 2011. While it’s tempting to attribute the bleak numbers to a deteriorating housing market, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University said that doesn’t tell the whole story.
“The year-over-year decline in existing home sales will be the result of comparing months when there was no tax credit with those from a year earlier, when the tax credit was artificially increasing sales,” said Dr. Mark Dotzour, the Center’s chief economist.
The $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers went into effect in January 2009 and was planned to expire in November 2009. Home sales gradually started to increase after the tax credit was announced, after bottoming out in January at an annual rate just above 4.5 million sales.
Existing home sales gradually increased in 2009 as buyers and real estate agents became more familiar with the program. Sales topped an annual rate of five million in July 2009 for the first time since September 2008.
As the tax credit deadline approached, home sales spiked in September, October and November 2009. November 2009 was the peak at an annual rate of almost 6.5 million.
The tax credit was extended late in 2009 to include sales with contracts written until April 30, 2010, and closed by June 30 (extended to September 30). Initial homebuyer response to this extension was tepid, but sales picked up substantially in March, April and May 2010, when sales were up 18 percent, 28 percent and 18 percent, respectively, over the same months in 2009.
Then the process reversed itself. Pending home sales fell dramatically in May 2010, the month after the tax credits expired. This was followed by a significant drop in home sales in June and July. In Texas, July 2010 sales were down approximately 25 percent from July 2009.
Dotzour said August figures may not be much better since many buyers purchased homes before the tax incentive expired.
“When you ‘bring forward’ sales through tax incentives, sales will be lower after the tax credit ends,” he said.
Unless Congress creates a new tax credit this fall, Dotzour said monthly sales for 2010 will likely exhibit significant variance from 2009, and a true reading of housing market conditions may not be possible until June or July 2011.