Some very good news is in! According to the San Antonio Board of REALTORS®, so far this year, existing San Antonio home sales have outpaced 2009 sales by 16.2 percent. The credit can be given to wise buyers motivated by the Federal home buyer tax credit programs, San Antonio home affordability, rising consumer confidence, and historically low mortgage interest rates.
But, there's a little bad news among the good. As San Antonio enters its typically very active late spring/early summer home selling season, the residential listing inventory may be a bit too high for seller comfort. Early trends indicate that, in some neighborhoods, single family properties might stay on the market longer than usual for the summer season, and the average list price is trending downward as sellers adjust for what might be a slower than usual market. What caused this potential down side for San Antonio home sellers. Simply this. The protracted national economic downturn has impacted negatively on San Antonio home values. After years of moderate, but steady, price increases, Bexar County property values dipped 2 percent in 2009. Some areas in south and northwest Bexar County have been particularly hard hit with foreclosures and many highly foreclosure prone neighborhoods have seen their values depreciate drastically in a very short time.
On the other hand, higher priced subdivisions in San Antonio's north and northeast appear to be holding their home values very well.
Should San Antonio homeowners be concerned that the area will experience a protracted home value depreciation cycle? Probably not. Because of its solid economic and demographic foundations, San Antonio remains one of the nation's bright spots for home ownership and rental investments. Affordable mortgage availability is extremely high, mortgage interest rates are historically low and the area is on the verge of receiving an influx of military buyers eager to take advantage of San Antonio's well priced homes.
So home buyers and sellers should take satisfaction that there's some good news for everyone.
In conclusion, here are the relevant market indicators for San Antonio single-family detached home listings as of 7 June 2010.
There are 12,324 active listings compared to 12,107 one year ago. The inventory is rising slowly. That's a good sign for home buyers.
The average sales price for the most recent closings is $177,685 compared to $185,078 last year. The unusual drop in average sales price is caused by the purchase of a large number of less expensive properties by buyers capitalizing on the Federal home buyer tax credit programs. It remains to be seen how the market will fare after all of the tax credit program deals are closed by the end of June. 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 119 compared to 138 last year. During 2009, CDOM figures were unacceptably high, but dropped fast during the Federal Tax credit home buying frenzy. It remains to be seen if cumulative market time will improve further, but a slight upward trend is possible. Nonetheless, for the time being, it'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 June 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 the 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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