Real Estate Rumblings

San Antonio ends scorching summer with double-digit climb in home prices

San Antonio's red-hot summer ended with a double-digit climb in prices.

Courtesy of the San Antonio Board of Realtors

Summer is coming to a close, and San Antonio's real estate market had a scorcher of a season. In its August housing report, the San Antonio Board of Realtors revealed the Alamo City's marketplace is hot, hot, hot — beginning with a double-digit increase in the average price of a single-family home.

In August, the average price in the San Antonio area hit $309,970, a whopping 12 percent higher than the same time last year. The median price also grew to $259,600, a 9 percent increase over August 2019. Overall, the San Antonio metro sold 3,693 single-family homes last month, a 7 percent year-over-year jump.

“The newly released numbers show continued strength for our city and county. When compared to Travis, Harris, and Dallas Counties, Bexar County has shown the highest growth with 18,126 homes sold, a 6.2 percent increase year-to-date compared to last year's numbers,” said Kim Bragman, SABOR's 2020 chairman of the board, in the report.

Bragman went on to add that new residents are continuing to move to San Antonio from both inside and outside of Texas.

That demand for housing has led to a drop in the number of days on the market, one of the key indicators of a "balanced" market. Last month, the average home took 53 days to sell, a drop of two days from August 2019.

The market isn't showing signs of ebbing, even with a global pandemic and the fall slowdown that traditionally accompanies election years. New listings clocked in at 4,021 while pending sales in San Antonio sat at 3,431 homes as August closed.

San Antonio's real estate market echoes trends across many of the state's biggest metros. In July, Travis County saw double-digit growth in both home prices and sales. Harris County, meanwhile, boasted a record-setting July, and August saw the region's third consecutive month of positive sales, despite the pandemic. Dallas County also had an electric summer with a 25 percent increase in home sales in July.

home-for-sale reports

bang for your buck

San Antonio ZIP code is 4th most affordable place for renters in U.S.

Photo by Florian Schmid on Unsplash

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Trying to afford buying a home in San Antonio is difficult enough with current mortgage rates, and doubly so if you're already paying high rent on an apartment or a house. But there are six San Antonio ZIP codes where renters can get the most bang for their buck, according to a new study by financial services company CashNetUSA.

To find the most affordable ZIP codes for renters in the U.S., analysts compared median household incomes by ZIP code to the average annual rent costs in those areas using the Zillow Observed Rent Index. ZIP codes where the average annual rental constituted the lowest percentage of median household income were considered the "most affordable."

San Antonio's 78248 ZIP code specifically stood out as the No. 4 most affordable in the country, and the No. 1 most affordable in Texas. This area encompasses the north San Antonio neighborhoods of Inwood, Forests at Inwood, Oakwood, The Park at Deerfield, Canyon Creek Bluffs, Canyon Creek Village, Blanco Village, Deerfield, Cadillac Drive, and Churchill Estates.

According to the study's findings, the average monthly cost of a rental in 78248 comes out to $1,259.17, and the median annual income of a household in the area is $122,986. Analysts then calculated that the annual rent of a home in this ZIP code only takes up 12.29 percent of a household's median income, which is the fourth-lowest in the nation.

CashNetUSA found the No. 1 most affordable ZIP code for renters nationwide is 66224 in Leawood, Kansas, where annual rent only takes a 10.57 percent cut out of a household's median annual income.

Elsewhere in Texas, two Houston-area ZIP codes – 77401 and 77094 – ranked No. 9 and No. 12 nationally, while Allen's 75013 ZIP code fell two spots behind to claim the No. 14 spot.

The most affordable San Antonio-area ZIP codes for renters
CashNetUSA further unveiled the five most affordable ZIP codes across major U.S. cities, including in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston.

Following 78248 (which took the No. 1 spot citywide) is 78261 (No. 2), which spans east of Highway 281, across Smithson Valley Road. Rent costs in this ZIP code averaged out to $1,698 per month, the report found.

Landing in the No. 3 spot is 78258, which includes Rogers Ranch, The Vineyard, Stone Oak, Summit, Hidden Canyon, and Big Springs neighborhoods. The report said average rent in the area comes out to $1,507 per month, which takes up 17.54 percent of a household's median annual income.

The remaining top two most affordable ZIP codes for San Antonio renters are located in 78259 (Encino Park, Encino Ranch, Cavalo Creek Estates, Northwood Hills, Summit at Bulverde Creek, Roseheart, Redland Woods) and 78260 in Timberwood Park, which is about 25 miles north of downtown San Antonio.

rent rent prices affordable housing