Spurred on by the up to $8000 Federal first time home buyer tax credit program, San Antonio's realty market charged vigorously into a very successful late fall 2009 home selling season. The market remained relatively active through December, but, in January 2010, the market took more than its usual early winter siesta, with new listings and sales down significantly.
In February, the market sprang back to life with renewed vigor, as sales perked up and newly listed resale homes joined the market in advance of what's projected to be a very active Spring selling season.
Although the new listing and sales trends weren't unexpected, something has happened that's highly unusual for San Antonio. The most recent San Antonio Board of Realtors data indicate the average resale home is listed for about the same price as a year ago and the most recent average closed residential listing sale price is significantly lower than a year ago.
Most experts feel the Alamo City's realty market is experiencing a brief home value depreciation cycle, soon to be followed by the return of the area's usual steady, but modest home price appreciation. But, there's a word of caution buried in the optimism, because last year's experience proves that, despite having one of the nation's strongest economies, San Antonio isn't immune to the influence of negative national economic trends. For example, this year, the road to San Antonio for many relocating home buyers is cluttered with the unsold homes they've left behind; and home mortgage qualification standards are higher than at any time in recent memory. Consequently, many newcomers will be forced to rent instead of buying a home
On the other hand, there's a very positive sign. The re-enacted up to $8,000 first-time home buyer Federal tax credit program and the new $6,500 move up home buyer Federal tax credit program are expected to spur both buyer and seller activity at least through 30 April 2010, when the programs expire.
As for the area's new construction home inventory there's risk that there's not enough to meet demand. Nonetheless, some builders are offering some very attractive buyer incentives.
Although it might be a good idea to buy a new construction home, it's always prudent to diligently check out the incentives offered by the builders and particularly the loans offered by the builders' affiliated lenders. Before signing a sales agreement, a buyer should seek the help of a Realtor ® to verify (1) that the property is reasonably priced and (2) that the lender is offering the most favorable loan, with the best interest rate, for the lowest settlement costs.
In conclusion, here are the relevant market indicators for San Antonio single-family detached home listings as of 4 March 2010.
There are 11,476 active listings compared to 11,958 one year ago. The inventory is rapidly rising. That's a good sign for home buyers.
The average sales price for the most recent closings is $169,717 compared to $178,320 last year. It's believed the unusual drop in average sales price has been driven mostly by the purchases of a large number of less expensive properties by home buyers capitalizing on the Federal home buyer tax credit programs. It remains to be seen how the market will fare after the tax credit programs end on 30 April 2010. What's certain for the time being is this - the decreasing average sales price trend is a good sign for buyers.
Average cumulative-days-on-the-market (CDOM) for the most recent sales is 135 compared to 145 last year. During 2009, CDOM figures were unacceptably high, but now are trending downward. That's a positive sign for San Antonio home sellers, specifically, and for San Antonio's realty market, generally.
Industry analysts see these data as reflecting a housing market strongly favoring buyers over sellers.
That's all for our March 2010 San Antonio realty market report. We encourage reader comments and recommendations about how to make our reports more informative and useful.
We're Stephanie and Randy Kelley, Realtors® of Keller Williams Legacy, San Antonio, Texas. If you have questions, need San Antonio realty or mortgage loan advice or assistance, or just want to chat a bit about our wonderful Alamo City, please call us at (210) 863-2661 or (210) 867-8743, or E-mail us at swkrealtor@aol.com or kelleybus@aol.com. Our SanAntonioHomeQuest.com Realty Solutions Team is always ready to help you with your home buying or selling needs.
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