It offers two living areas, one with a fireplace;  two eating areas, a conveniently located kitchen and inside utility room.  There are two patios, one on each side of the house and a two car garage.  It is set on  a large lot on a cul-de-sac street.  This is a great  home for anyone ,  just starting out or downsizing.   The carpet was replaced recently but it could use a little TLC.  If you want to take a look at this home, call Joy Myers at 210-259-6643 for a personal tour or visit www.bradfieldproperties.com/780274 for photos of property.   Don’t wait ,  foreclosures are  selling fast. 

Also, if you are in the market to buy soon, ask about the tax credit for first time home buyers up to $8000. And check back here on Wednesday to find out who won the drawing from this open house for a gift card and to find out when and where the next open house will be. We will be doing open houses on a regular basis with drawings for free gift cards as well. Again, if anyone has any uestions on foreclosures or real eatate in the SanAntonio area, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

San Antonio is still one of the strongest markets in the country. As a matter of fact, Forbes Magazine ranked San Antonio as one of the nation’s strongest housing markets, behind only Seattle and Oklahoma City. The reason, a 11.2% increase in home prices.

With that said, San Antonio has not totally escaped the economic times.  The sub prime issues have certainly affected us. Mortgage companies have tightened their parameters, thus taking a percentage of potential buyers out of the market. Many investors  have virtually disappeared from our market because of their exposure in other markets.  This has changed the dynamics of our market. Builders have stopped buiding spec homes. They placed large incentives on their inventory to move existing product. That inventory has for the most part been sold off, which now drives buyers back to pre-existing homes.

So really, how is the San Antonio real estate market?  Just as it is nationally, some areas are stronger than others. Another factor is price. There are certain price points that are stronger than others. The lower price points are more active than the more expensive properties.  So, is it a buyer’s market? It depends on the area, the price point, and the individual seller’s position. Every transaction stands alone.  The bottom line for a buyer: Find an experienced agent that knows the market that can convey good, current information to you so that you can make an educated buying decision. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. 

“Texas is the most housing-affordable, high-growth state in the nation,” says Dr. Jim Gaines, research economist for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “So far, skyrocketing home prices common to fast-growing states like California and Florida have not occurred in Texas.”

In mid-2007, the state’s median-priced home was $151,000 – some two-thirds the national median of $229,000 and about 75 percent less than California’s $589,000.

According to the Texas Housing Affordability Index compiled by Gaines, a Texas family earning the statewide median income has 152 percent of the income required to qualify for financing on the median-priced home. Nationally, families have about 16 percent more than is required.

Other measures show just how affordable Texas homes are. One expresses median house value as a multiple of median housing income. The lower the multiple, the more affordable the housing.

“In 2005, the national median home value was 3.62 times the median household income,” says Gaines. “In Texas, the median value was only 2.52. Current median prices to median household income multiplies are even higher, and the difference between Texas and the nation are even more pronounced.”

Gaines says housing affordability is just one card in a deck stacked in the state’s favor. The other winning cards include lower cost of living and cost of business, greater employment opportunities and an appealing lifestyle.

“Events and circumstances point toward a Texas-sized boom between 2005 and 2030,” Gaines writes in the latest issue of Tierra Grande magazine, a periodical sent to all the state’s real estate licensees. “The state’s population and economy — as well as its housing and commercial real estate markets — are poised to explode in volume and prices.”

Gaines says the real estate game is changing, and the stakes are getting higher.

“Things will change dramatically from what many Texas are used to,” he predicts. Population will be a key player at the table as Texas is projected to grow by 13.6 million by 2030.

“That’s the equivalent of adding another Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, another Houston metropolitan area, another San Antonio metropolitan area and another Corpus Christi,” he says.

“Growth and prosperity will spread throughout the state, but most of the growth will occur in the state’s urban areas,” says Gaines. “Four out of every five Texans will live in the Dallas-Fort Worth-to-Houston-to San Antonio triangle.”

New Texans will bring new jobs.

“Texas leads the nation in job creation. If Texas maintains its average employment-to-population ratio as expected during the next 25 years, the state will add another 4.5 to 5.8 million jobs,” says Gaines. “Job growth is expected to be stimulated by overall U.S. economic growth and enhanced by Texas’ employment-friendly characteristics.”

More people and more jobs will lead to higher personal income.

“Extending the long-term trend that began in 1969 suggests the state’s total personal income could increase by $1 trillion by 2030,” says Gaines. “The 2005 Texas median household income of $42,139 could reach nearly $68,000 by 2030.”

With the gains will come pains, says the noted economist.

“The projected population and employment boom will also strain local and state resources to provide public services and infrastructure,” he said. “Texas will experience the same growing pains as other high-growth states. State and local fiscal capacities will be stretched, and Texans will debate the level and type of growth they want in their communities.”

For more on Gaines’ Texas economic outlook for 2030, including his thoughts on what might disrupt the ideal game plan, see “Looming Boom: Texas Through 2030” available online at http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1841.pdf.

The Real Estate Center (http://recenter.tamu.edu) has been providing solutions through research for 35 years. Funded primarily by Texas real estate licensee fees, the Center was created by the state legislature to meet the needs of many audiences, including the real estate industry, instructors, researchers and the general public.

Is this a sign that the San Antonio market is following the path to decline of other housing markets? Probably not, as San Antonio is not the only market in which Standard Pacific is selling their home lot inventory. More likely, Standard Pacific is consonsolidating due to problems in other markets and concentrating on their core, more established markets, which San Antonio is not for them.

Indeed, one of the reasons Forest City purchased these lots is due to the attractiveness of the San Antonio real estate market. In their press release,:

“This is an example of our stated strategy of taking advantage of national market conditions to selectively acquire properties and land in key markets. The solid underlying fundamentals of the San Antonio market, including job growth, attractive cost of living and the recreational opportunities provided by the Hill Country area all provide a positive outlook for the single-family market in the long-term,” said Bob Monchein, President of Forest City Land Group.

Seeing a similar pattern of growth, Cassie Gibson of Residential Strategies, Inc., stated, “The outlook for the Greater San Antonio new home market remains positive, despite the overall national housing market and credit market woes.”

What does this all mean if you are looking to buy or sell a home in San Antonio. If you are a new homebuyer, home builders remain focused on reducing their inventory which means that they will continue to provide incentives that should be very attractive to you. If you want to know what they are offering, feel free to contact us and we will let you know.

If you are thinking of selling your home, this is positive news as well. With Forest City having confidence in the San Antonio home market, they believe that there are still buyers to buy. However, it does mean that pricing your home right, maximum marketing exposure, and proper home staging is extremely important. If you are thinking about selling your home, we would be more than happy to consult with you.

4. San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio ranked number one on our list of the Top 10 Places to Invest for 2007 and second on our list of the Top 10 Foreclosure Markets for 2007. Home to 1,273,374 people as of 2006, San Antonio retains affordable home prices, with a median of $96,300, in spite of its growing population. Median monthly upkeep is only $374 per month, with an estimated mortgage costing $486.95 per month. The rental vacancy rate for the city is 10.3 percent—on the lower side of this list—and the median gross rent is $678 per month.

Cah flow in it’s simplest definition is the amount of money the property brings in (rent) versus the amount going out (mortgage, taxes, maintaince, etc.). If you have a property that you have thought would make a great investment and here is a great online calculator.

While many parts of the country are suffering from a housing decline, San Antonio remains a “steady wins the race” market.

“Home prices in Texas have defied the overall downward trend seen in other U.S. housing markets, according to a study by First American Loan Performance.

In the San Antonio area, home prices increased 7.89 percent over the 12 months ending in October. Other Texas markets included in the study’s top 30 statistical areas include Austin-Round Rock, which increased 8.62 percent; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 3.92 percent; and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, with a 4.52 percent increase.”

That means that the San Antonio Area ranked 4th nationwide in appreciation. In all, only 10 of the nation’s largest metro area’s had increases in home prices, with 4 of those in Texas.