Hello everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. Let’s talk real estate in San Antonio, shall we? The market has been quite the rollercoaster lately, but it’s always exciting to dive into the numbers and see what’s been happening.
Looking at the data from February 2024, it seems that San Antonio is still mostly a buyers market. Realtor.com shows a slight uptick in prices, while Rocket Mortgage indicates a slight downturn. Now, Redfin is where things get interesting – prices have been all over the place.
In November, they were at $256,000, then rose to $268,000 in December, then dropped to $250,000 in January, and now shot up to $265,000 in February. Despite this back and forth, it looks like there’s a slight decrease in prices overall.
Now, shifting our focus to Rocket Mortgage’s internal metrics.
We’ve observed a 12% increase in the number of houses on the market and an 8% increase in the number of homes sold. Both of these figures align with expectations as we head into the spring market.
Additionally, the days on market have seen a slight uptick, rising from 71 days to 73 days.
Interestingly, the percentage of houses selling below the listing price has decreased from 64% last month to 60% this month, indicating a slightly stronger market than anticipated. I will be interested to see if this trend continues through the spring.
Now, let’s take a look at our late March assessment of the market. In late March we showed 2.4 months of inventory on the market, exactly the same as last month.
My assessment of the San Antonio real estate market in February 2024 is that the market is steady. There haven’t been any significant price drops or increases to note. However, the market’s pace seems rather sluggish, likely due to consistently high interest rates.
Looking ahead, I anticipate an uptick in activity as we move into the traditionally busier spring season. I foresee more properties hitting the market and an increase in sales.
Personally, I’mi Inclined to believe that the inventory of available properties will outpace the number of actual sales, leading to a slight uptick in the 2.4 months of housing inventory through the summer months. It’s worth noting that this is just my perspective, and there’s always a chance that I may be mistaken.
Let’s take a moment to check in on how Bill’s business is doing.
Last month, we had two houses listed for sale on the MLS. Thankfully, we managed to sell the one that was under contract. It was a much-needed win for us, and we’re grateful for it.
Our more affordable house, on the Northwest side, is still drawing in a lot of interest, which is encouraging. Additionally, we recently listed another house near the Airport, and we are working with a potential buyer to get a contract on it. We are hopeful that things are starting to turn around for us.
We’ve also got two mobile homes sitting on two adjacent acre lots out in Garden Ridge. We think that will be a win for us and we are just waiting for the right buyers to come along.
On the buying side, we’ve taken a step forward by purchasing a townhouse near the airport. We are (somewhat) patiently waiting for the previous owner to vacate the property so we can get in there and figure out what we are going to do with it. With any luck, we’ll be getting the keys to the home by the weekend.
I am looking to see if anyone would like to invest $70,000 at 8% for up to 7 years amortized over 30 years. We would like to pay off the mortgage on the affordable house on the Northwest side and sell it to the owner finance. We will be putting $50,000 into the deal. We think we can sell the home for $200,000 owner finance. If you are interested please reach out.
Regarding the duplex, the situation with one of the heirs suing us appears to be over. The brother we bought the property from apparently had an old will. He probated that will while his sister probated a newer will. Both in San Antonio and no one at the courthouse caught the duplication. What ended up happening was that the title insurance paid us on our title claim and we gave the deed back to the sister with the newer will. We ended up eating the hard money loan cost but it could have been much worse.
We’re in the process of scaling back our business operations. Right now, we’re focusing on wrapping up any projects that are already in progress. Once that’s done, we’ll be taking a close look at our future plans and how we want to move forward with our business. It’s a time of reflection and decision-making as we consider the best path forward for our company.
Deanna’s land flipping business is thriving. The property she had under contract last month has been successfully sold, and she currently has one property still on the market. Her dedication and hard work are truly paying off, and I can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy at her remarkable success.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening in the San Antonio apartment market. I’ve been noticing a lack of new projects starting in San Antonio for a while now. This is still true, however the completion of projects that got underway in 2021 and 2022 when interest rates were low, and rents were rising by more than 10% each year may be a problem for the multi-family market going forward.
Interestingly, I recently came across an article suggesting that the oversupply of class A apartments might not spell disaster for San Antonio. They argue that the city’s substantial population growth, combined with strong apartment demand (albeit with owner concessions), and the backing of well-financed property owners, should help maintain high occupancy rates. It’s an intriguing argument worth considering amidst the changing landscape of the Class A apartment market.
I’m really hopeful they’re right. From what we’ve noticed,San Antonio is attracting a steady stream of newcomers. We’re consistently receiving rental applications from individuals relocating to the area. This suggests there might be some validity to the article’s claims.
At our property, The Annex, where I’m involved as a general partner, we’ve maintained strong performance metrics. We’re currently at a 90% occupancy rate, and our rent collection stands at an impressive 96%. However, both myself and the management team are growing more concerned about the type of mortgage we have on the property. We’re taking proactive steps to address this issue by exploring options to change to a different mortgage. This could involve selling the property or potentially refinancing into a more favorable mortgage product. I will keep you informed as we explore our options.
Earlier this year, both Zillow and Redfin made predictions about the San Antonio real estate market, suggesting it would be sluggish with prices possibly dropping by 2 to 5%. Initially, I was skeptical of these forecasts, believing the market would remain relatively stable. However, as we’ve entered spring and interest rates have remained stubbornly high, I’m starting to think they may have been correct. It seems increasingly likely that the market will indeed be slow, with prices potentially experiencing a slight decline.
Remember, we are looking to see if anyone would like to invest $70,000 at 8% for up to 7 years, amortized over 30 years. We would like to pay off the mortgage on the affordable house on the Northwest side and sell it via owner financing. We will be putting $50,000 into the deal. We think we can sell the home for $200,000 with owner financing. If you are interested, please reach out.