SAN ANTONIO – Research from realtor.com shows houses in San Antonio are up 12.2% year-over-year. That means homes on average are more than 12% more expensive now than they were this time last year.
There are a lot of questions about the current real estate market and what is on the horizon. That’s why Danny Charbel with Keller Williams San Antonio joined Leading SA on Sunday to break down the market.
“Normally we see San Antonio being a little bit insulated from effects and trends around the country. That was definitely not the case with this pandemic as it came through. Now, when interest rates dropped to nearly zero, the whole country went into a flurry. And San Antonio is not an exception to that rule,” Charbel said.
There are a variety of people buying new homes in the area, including first-time buyers.
“We’re seeing a lot of 20-somethings and 30-somethings looking to either get deep into the city core or starting to look at, you know, school districts planning for their future, that kind of thing moving into older homes, rehabbing them, making them look the way they want them to look. The pandemic really has stoked the fire and people looking inward and deciding on what they really want from a house and what things they need to have in order to be prepared for the next big thing,” Charbel said.
But there are also a lot of people just taking advantage of the market.
“We are seeing also those folks who are downsizing and making an interesting move. A lot of folks selling their houses, the family home or whatever it may be, and moving into condos or townhomes on smaller lot sizes, lower maintenance, something that’s a little bit newer, perhaps so that they can lock and leave, as we say, to go on vacations or go spend time with grandchildren and things along those lines. So, it’s not so much which areas are getting lots of activity, but which market segments are we’re seeing focusing on different parts of town,” Charbel said.
San Antonio is seeing an uptick in prices, but so are our surrounding cities.
“We’re seeing remarkable growth on the outlying areas. And that part of that is our folks coming in from other states, other locales and saying, ‘Hey, you know, I want that Texas experience. I want to get away from it all, I want to be, I want to have a little bit of elbow room.’ You know, people coming in from the coastlines are saying, ‘you know, can I get away from my neighbors? Can I have a little bit of space,’” Charbel said.
There are a lot of people waiting for the market to slow down, and there are fears it could crash. However, Charbel doesn’t see that happening anytime soon.
“We’re expecting, at least speculation says, that this kind of activity and this kind of fervor for home buying is going to continue through at least the second quarter of next year, if not third quarter of next year. And that’s all going to be solidified by interest rates. As long as interest rates stay very, very low. You’re going to see that kind of activity in the buying sector. And then, of course, folks are selling because they can get a lot of money for their houses. And I’m not mad at them for that,” Charbel said.
You can watch the full interview with Charbel in the video player above.