Homebuying news

This is how long it will take you to save up a down payment in San Antonio

You can save up a down payment faster in San Antonio.

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Twenty years ago, a gallon of gas was about a dollar, and it took 5.5 years to save for a down payment on a home. Since the good ol’ days of ’98, home values have skyrocketed — nearly twice as much as incomes — and the average time to save for a down payment has gone up to seven years.

But don’t fret too much. Some Texas cities come in below the U.S. average, and San Antonio is one of them.

To reach this conclusion, Zillow compared the change in median home values from 1998 to 2018 to the change in median income over the same 20-year period. The real estate site assumed that a person earning the local median income was saving 10 percent each month.

Those in San Antonio wanting to achieve their dream of being a homeowner only need to save for 6.3 years. Over the past 20 years, home values in Alamo City have increased by about 90 percent, and the median income has changed 61.3 percent.

The story is similar in Dallas-Fort Worth, where it takes 6.8 years to save for a down payment. Home Values there have increased the same as San Antonio, but the median income has changed by 53.5 percent.

Houston buyers are treated with the least amount of time needed to save for a 20 percent down payment in the state: 6.2 years. Out of all the big Texas cities, the median home value in Houston has increased the least over the past 20 years, 78 percent, while the median income has increased by 53.5 percent.

In Austin, on the other hand, the average amount of time it takes to save for a down payment is a whopping 7.9 years, almost a year above the U.S. average. From 1998 to 2018, the median home value there increased by 90.9 percent, while median income went up by 70.5 percent.

Although Texans, especially millennials, are going to have to be patient with the saving process, things look much better in the Lone Star State than in California. In San Jose, it takes two decades (21.8 years) to save for a down payment. San Francisco and Los Angeles are barely better at about 18 years each.

Main priority in life to buy a house immediately? Go to Pittsburgh, where it takes only 4.8 years to save for a 20 percent down payment. Or check out St. Louis, Cincinnati, or Indianapolis, where you can have a down payment in 5.1 years.

zillow 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.

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