The quality of schools and the proximity to
work, family and friends are the highest priorities
guiding buyers in their choices of where
to live, according to Travis Kessler, president
and chief executive officer of the San Antonio
Board of Realtors (SABOR).
Based on the number of existing home
sales reported by the Multiple Listing Service
(MLS) in 2007, more than 2,300 buyers in
the San Antonio area found the neighborhood
they sought was in the north central area,
around Stone Oak, says Bob Leonard, chairman
of SABOR.
The second highest volume of sales
recorded was in the Schertz-Guadalupe
County area, which Kessler says is the first
time this area has appeared in the top five.
The next three highest areas were in northwest
San Antonio between Highway 90 and
Bandera Road, both inside and outside
Loop 1604.
The price of gasoline seems not to have
stemmed the home construction spiraling
outward. The highest average sales price for
existing homes, close to $370,000, was in
the northwest, north of Loop 1604 East and
west of IH-10. The call of the Hill Country
around Boerne commanded the second highest
average, approximately $340,000, followed
by Stone Oak at $283,000.
Leonard said that 2007 did bring an increased
demand in properties south of Loop
1604. “Part of this,” he speculates, “could
be the desire to move closer in to avoid traffic
congestion and commute time.”
In addition to the older housing stock
found in San Antonio’s 22 historic districts,
some buyers are finding bungalows inside
Loop 410 appealing for other reasons – the
land underneath them. Faced with a rapid
rise in requests by people desiring to build
much grander homes on existing home sites,
Alamo Heights went so far as to enact a demolition
moratorium in 2004. This was lifted
in 2005 after the city prepared and adopted
a demolition-delay ordinance to allow time
for neighborhood input.
One new concept Kessler has observed over
the past several years is that of zero-lot-line
garden homes, perhaps reflective of an increasing
number of buyers interested in downsizing
and low maintenance. Condominium
projects, he says, are continuing to spring up
around the medical center and downtown.
In February 2008, 636 condominiums
and townhomes were found in MLS, still only
a small percentage of overall listings. These
might range in size from a 640-square-foot
condo in the King William Historic District to
a 4,788-square-foot unit on the fourth floor
of Camp Street, just south of downtown and
priced just south of $2 million.
In addition to trendy small condo projects
under construction around King William and
SoFlo, the emerging neighborhood centered
around South Flores, numerous new luxury
projects looming quite large on the horizon are
changing the city’s skyline. These include The
Broadway on Hildebrand, Vidorra on the near
east side of downtown and Alteza, perched
high atop the just-opened Grand Hyatt, enabling
the condos to offer true hotel services
and amenities.
While one hears downsizing is what lies
ahead, Texans love luxury and ample square
footage. According to 2005 census statistics
examined by the Real Estate Center at Texas
A&M University, more than a quarter of all
owner-occupied housing units in the San Antonio
area boasted four or more bedrooms.
MLS figures assembled by the Real Estate
Center indicate 7 percent of homes sold for
$250,000 and above in the year 2000; the
number in that price range had climbed to 15
percent by 2006.
Million Dollar Listings is the title of a new
section in the San Antonio Express-News. A
recent week spotlighted a 7,200-squarefoot
home on the 15th fairway of the Jack
Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in Cordillera
Ranch on the market for $3.1 million. MLS
listings at the beginning of April included
$3.5-million properties in Olmos Park and
Elm Creek, a $6-million home in The Dominion
and a $13.5 million property,
which, for prospective buyers concerned
about schools, is located in the Northside
School District.
Job growth plus population growth plus
continued appreciation in value. These economic
indicators should add up to make investing
in a home in San Antonio a wise move.
back to top |
