What is interesting is how various areas and price points are affected in different ways. Just as California, Florida, and other parts of the country have been hit worse than Texas, areas and price points within the cities are impacted differently. For example, in San Antonio, homes priced under $200,000 are selling much faster than homes priced over that. As the price goes up, the time on the market increases accordingly. If you are in more rural areas, you have the issues of gas prices and commute times. A buyer’s market is typically determined by the inventory levels. If you have an inventory of 7 months or more, you have a buyer’s market. So, to be specific here in San Antonio, we have a buyer’s market above $300,000. We tend to be in a seller’s market under $200,000, and a balanced market in between the $200 to $300k range.

Buyers and sellers need to understand the market as it affects them. Too many times, they are fed the generalities of the market and not the specifics as it should be. For anyone needing a detailed market analysis, we are available.

By the way, at our last OPEN HOUSE, three open houses actually, we gave away a $25 gift card and the winner was Thea Platz. Congrats!

“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.

Here are some common mistakes when selling your San Antonio home:

1. Making small price reductions. Price you home right from the beginning or make one large price reduction, but don’t make make small price reductions.
2. Hiring the wrong agent. Having a competent, professional agent is more important than ever.
3. Waiting “out” the market. There are many, many, many people thinking that exact same thing.
4. Showing a cluttered home. The competition is stiff, folks. Clean, paint and unclutter.
5. Not taking the first offer. Two out of three times, the first offer is YOUR best offer!

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• Austin, TX   -10.1%
• Tampa, FL  -10.4%
• Houston, TX  – 11.0%
• Las Vegas, NV -14.8%
• Phoeniz, AZ -16.2%
• Dallas, TX -19.2%
• Denver, CO -20.1%
• Atlanta, GA – 23.2%
• Philadelphia, PA -28.6%
• Seattle, WA – 29.1%
• San Diego, CA -41.6%
• New York, NY -62.9%

As long as the cost of living in San Antonio remains so attractive, I believe that will cushion San Antonio against any major housing price decline, because San Antonio will remain attractive to employers looking to relocate, retirees looking for a winter home, and investors looking for stable rental properties.

What else did San Antonio rank high in? Well, we ranked in the top ten for barbecue, historical sites, cheap eats, ethnic food, relaxing and romantic atmosphere, and of course, friendly people.

So when someone asks why move to San Antonio, the answer is simple. Housing is affordable and the market is not crashing, the cost of living is lower than most, we have great food, the world’s best basketball team, and of course, the friendliest people.

We get it. We know what you want in a real estate agent. You want access to homes for sale. You got it. You want information about the market. You got it. You want us to listen to your wants and needs. You got it. You want us to help you buy the right home at the right price. You got it. You want us to sell your home for the best price in the shortest time frame. You got it.

Just tell us. We will listen. We get it.

Million Dollar in San Francisco…

Million Dollar Home in Chicago…

Million Dollars in San Antonio…

WOW! What a difference…As you can see your housing dollars go a lot further in San Antonio than in other parts of the country. If this is the difference in a million dollar home, imagine the difference in a $100,000 home. Go ahead, kill some of your day and do a Google comparision of homes you can afford and compare other cities to San Antonio.

So how is the new home market in San Antonio. The answer: still good, just not great anymore. Read this article in the San Antonio Express News, and you will learn that while new home sales were down over 25% in 2007 from 2006, that 2007 was still the 3rd best year for San Antonio homebuilders.

And what did that mean for new home buyers: BIG INCENTIVES. Builders offered to pay buyer’s closing cost’s, free upgrades, and huge discounts. So the question is what is in store for 2008? We have no crystal ball, but all indications are a little more of the same until the market corrects itself. Builders still have excess inventory, which they should be able to bring down by summer.

So if you have been thinking about purchasing a new home in San Antonio, you still have a few months where the builders want to really earn your business with still historically low interest rates.