The housing boom continues in Bexar County, especially in its western areas, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors.
The board, also known as SABOR, reports the hottest trends in building new, local homes are based on family economics or density.
The chairman of the board of realtors, Grant Lopez, said housing built to accommodate more than one generation of a family continues to be in demand.
Lopez said younger generations are staying home longer to make ends meet, while older generations are downsizing housing needs or moving in with their children to be cared for.
“So you are seeing a lot more two stories that have secondary bedrooms and bathrooms downstairs other than just the master to accommodate the large trend in multigenerational house holding,” he said.
He added another popular trend around downtown is housing designed for density.
“Thinner houses that stretch backwards, so kind of shotgun style you see in Louisiana that are coming into the city is a trend that is taking off really well in the more urban areas.”
Census officials report San Antonio ranks second only to Phoenix in growth, so the housing market is tight when it comes to available homes.
It is a sellers’ market, but Lopez warns buyers to not get too cocky when it comes to pricing. He says a house with a high price tag that sits on the market too long will scare off buyers. He says they’ll wonder what’s wrong with the property.
“About 98% of homes sell for the asking price, but I put the asterisk there, if the house is priced correctly.”
According to a SABOR news release, 58.2% of homes sold during April in the San Antonio area were priced between $200,000 and $500,000.
An additional 35.7% of homes sold were priced under $200,000, and the remaining 6.1% of homes sold were those priced more than $500,000
Homes on average spent just 62 days on the market, four more than this time last year. A total of 2,185 homes were sold in Bexar County during April, a 5.6% increase year-over-year, with the median rising 5.3% to an even $200,000.
The average price of a home sold in Bexar County was just $256,669. In nearby Travis County, the average price of a home sold in April was $483,914 while the average price of a home sold in Comal County was $341,040.
In Texas, total home sales increased 6.8% for a total of 29,950 homes sold. The average price of a home sold in the state was $298,657, a 4.6 percent year-over-year increase, and the median was $242,950, a 4.3% increase.
Brian Kirkpatrick can be reached at Brian@TPR.org and on Twitter at @TPRBrian.
