San Antonio Real Estate Market Report March 2008
April 22, 2008
San Antonio’s housing market continues to weaken, with fewer home sales in March and a higher than average number of homes set for the May foreclosure auction.Still, home values continued to rise, unlike in most areas of the nation.
Existing home sales dropped 21 percent in March to 1,609 sales compared with 2,039 sales in March 2007, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors.
But home prices did appreciate, rising 1.6 percent to hit $150,300 from $147,900 in March 2007.
That’s still better than the rest of the nation, where overall sales for existing homes dipped 23.8 percent in February (the most recent figures available) and where the median home price fell 8.2 percent, according the National Association of Realtors.
In addition, Bexar County foreclosure-auction notices topped 900 for the fourth straight month in May, when the number reached 959, according to foreclosure-tracking service RexReport.com. That’s a 41.7 percent increase from May of last year.
San Antonians are experiencing the end of a roughly 10-year seller’s market but still should see a 5 percent to 6 percent price growth this year, said Randall Allsup, manager of the San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley for Metrostudy, a housing research firm.
“The San Antonio resale market, while softening due to increasing inventories, remains one of the healthiest resale markets in the U.S.,” he said.
Allsup added that existing homes are selling “well within what is considered the ‘good’ range by national standards, and, most importantly, we are still seeing appreciation in this market.”
Written by Aïssatou Sidimé from the Express-News
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