Oil Drilling Affecting San Antonio Real Estate

There's an oil boom going on in South Texas!  The Eagle Ford Shale area includes 22 counties, mostly south of San Antonio, and the population in those counties has skyrocketed in the last year.  In the San Antonio Express News, the writer states that hotel revenues in those counties soared by more than 34 percent in the last 12 months.

Rental housing is hard to come by in those areas, and the demand spills over into many areas of San Antonio.  As surveyors, drillers and other oilfield workers poured into the largely rural counties that occupy the Eagle Ford, hotels quickly began to fill, RV parks multiplied and nontraditional residential sites called man camps appeared.

Some workers are purchasing homes in San Antonio for multiple workers to use as a residence while commuting to work south of town.  Since the oil boom is expected to continue for years, there's more good news for the San Antonio area economy and the San Antonio real estate market.

World's Largest Colony of Bats Just Minutes Outside San Antonio

Bracken Cave, off FM 3009 in southern Comal County, is home to  approximately 20 million Mexican  free-tailed bats.  Every summer evening they vortex out into the sky in search of insects to eat. The emergence of the  mammals lasts for hours.  During its summer stay in South Central Texas, the Bracken colony nightly eats tons of insects, including mosquitoes, providing natural pest control for farmers as well as city dwellers, while pollinating plants and spreading seeds.

Until  earlier  this month,  the  public  did  not  have  access  to the  site.  But  now,  there  are  egular tours five nights a week for people to experience the phenomenon up-close, at $24.99 per person.  The evening bat tour,  limited to 60 people per  day,  begins with an interpretive talk at nearby Natural Bridge Caverns, followed by a short hike to Bracken Cave to see the  bats  emerge.

Visiting San Antonio this summer?  Now you have another reason to come!







 

2011 Parade of Homes in San Antonio

Did you go?  The 2011 Parade of homes was held last month in the Champions Ridge subdivision in far north San Antonio.  Not for your average buyer, these homes were priced from $750,000 to over $1.5 million! 

From mysanantonio.com comes a great description of the event.  The six homes were loaded with

innovative energy-saving features combined with luxury and the latest in electronic home wizardry. 

This year’s parade homes showcased a variety of styles, ranging from Old World Spanish and Mediterranean to increasingly popular modern designs featuring clean lines, high ceilings, department store-sized closets and expensive but understated wood treatments.

Four of the six homes on the tour are already sold.  So there's definitely a healthy market in San Antonio for the upper end homes! 

August Sales Up in San Antonio in 2011 over 2010

In a recent article in mysanantonio.com, the number of reported home sales in August of 2011 in San Antonio showed a 10% improvement over the home sales of 2010.  There were 1771 homes sold that month versus 1617 sold in August a year earlier.  Unfortunately, home prices were down 6% from the previous year.  The lower median price indicates stronger sales in the lower price ranges during the economic downturn. 

What does the future hold?  San Antonio hopes to buck the national expectations of lower sales throughout the first quarter of 2012.  Time will tell. 

Light Rail is Coming to San Antonio!

According to http://www.mysanantonio.com/, the VIA Metropolitan Transit Board has unanimously adopted a plan for San Antonio public transportation that will include light rail, streetcars, and bus rapid transit lines.  Currently San Antonio is the largest city in the U.S. with a bus-only transit system.  The city's last streetcars were discontinued in 1933.  But with a projected population of over 2 million by 2035, the need for public transportation will increase dramatically. 

As seen on the map, there will be bus rapid transit routes added.  The city's first bus rapid transit line is set to launch late next year or in early 2013, plus there are plans for additional bus rapid transit lines stretching north and south.

Next comes the streetcar lines through downtown.  There will be construction of an east-west modern streetcar line through downtown connecting VIA's planned West Side multimodal center and the Robert Thompson Transit Center at the Alamodome on the East Side.

Finally, there will be two light-rail corridors in the region, one stretching north and south, initially joining the airport and downtown, and one east and west, connecting Lackland AFB to Fort Sam Houston.

And meanwhile, bus service will remain the bedrock of the system. Bus frequencies will be improved and new express lines will be added to facilitate transportation in the suburbs.

All in all, the VIA plan will help San Antonio residents get to work as more and more people leave their cars at home and enjoy the ride!

First Section of the San Antonio River "Mission Reach" Celebrates its Grand Opening

              Photo: Andrew Buckley/abuckley@express-news.net / abuckley@express-news.net


The restoration of the San Antonio River's ecosystem, which encompasses a total of eight miles, remains a work in progress.  But the first two miles of the extension had it's unveiling last week, with work continuing on the last 6 miles, due to be completed in August, 2013.  Saturday was the first time joggers, walkers and cyclists could navigate trails from San Pedro Creek to Mission Road. 

Saturday's ceremony also included the opening of the Mission Concepción portal, a stone masoned archway and trail, the first of four that will link the river to missions Concepción, San José, San Juan Capistrano and Espada. The portals will be opened one by one as the final phases are completed.

Sixty years ago, the river was modified and straightened, becoming a glorified drainage ditch. Now it's beginning to look more like a typical South Texas river, but everything about it is engineered — down to the placement of the 23,000 native trees and shrubs.

To learn more about this local treasure, read Pierre Bertrand's informative article in the San Antonio Express News. 

13815 Chittim Oak in San Antonio -- ready for new owners!

Beautiful two story home on a quiet cul-de-sac street in the Oak Hollow neighborhood in north central San Antonio... updated and ready for new owners at $259,900.

This home features four spacious bedrooms plus a study, as well as two living areas (one up and one down) and two dining areas in 2620 square feet (per appraisal district).  The open floorplan downstairs includes recent tile floors, decorator paints and trims.  The master is downstairs as well, and its bath has a large walk-in closet along with seperate tub & shower, and double vanities.

                                                                               
Master bedroom

     Master bath            









Upstairs there is a family rooom/ gameroom, and three bedrooms plus the study.  Two full baths offer privacy and convenience for a large family. 

  Upstairs baths

                         







     



Outside, there is a huge entertaining deck with an inviting hot tub.  And the oversized .25 acre lot provides lots of room for the kids to play.  Large trees shade a big portion of the back yard, a big plus in the Texas summers!

                                        

Come take a look at this fine home.  It's easy to set up an appointment... just give us a call!

How Energy Effecient is Your Home? Call CPS Energy to Find Out!

San Antonio's provider of electricity, City Public Service, or CPS Energy as they are now known, is offering a $95 energy audit of your home.  This audit will locate and measure leaks in the home's windows, ducts, and doors, and make recommendations to the homeowner on how they could better save energy dollars.

Possible recommendations include new caulking around windows and weather stripping around doors, adding insulation to attics, and making repairs to air conditioning ductwork. As an added incentive, the first 300 CPS Energy customers who follow through on the auditor's recommendations will receive a check for $1250 from the utility company as the result of a federal grant.

Don't wait!  Find out how you can save money each month on your CPS bill, and maybe even get help with paying for the energy upgrades!

3003 Fall Mist in Fall Creek Subdivision

Located in North Central San Antonio, this beautiful three bedroom home in Fall Creek features a three car garage, recent carpet throughout the home, and a large .24 acre lot.

Light and bright, the floor plan includes a formal living and dining room, along with an island kitchen that opens to the family room.  The master bedroom includes a nice sized walk-in closet and a bath with separate tub and shower.

Location, location, location... if you've got kids, this one's for you.  This home is next to the neighborhood playground! 

 

Mid-Century Modern Homes Becoming More Popular in San Antonio

In a recent article in the San Antonio Express News, writer Ana Ley says the homes built around the mid 20th century are becoming increasingly more popular in San Antonio.  Buyers are following a trend popular in other parts of the country, attracted to the clean uncluttered lines of the typically one story, ranch style homes. 

In San Antonio, homes built in this style in the 1950's can be found in many areas of town, including Castle Hills, Hollywood Park, Shearer Hills, Oak Hills, Olmos Park, Northwood, and Alamo Heights, all north of downtown.

Buyers are then taking it a step further by furnishing their home with furniture pieces from the same era, and often incorporating bold color choices in their decorating schemes.  It's a great look, don't you think?

San Antonio's First "Net-Zero" Home is Built

San Antonio's first "net-zero" home is being constructed in far north Bexar County on two acres, at a cost of $1.3 million.  Net-zero means that the home will use no more energy than it feeds back into the local power grid when complete.  The builder estimates the monthly utility bill will be about $50, which will mostly be to cover the gas and garbage pick-up.

The only visible signs that this home is different from others in the subdivision are the blue solar panels in the backyard, along with the 30,000 gallon tank that is part of the rainwater harvesting system, which funnels rainwater into underground pipes and then stores it in the tanks.  The water is then filtered before flowing indoors.

For more information on this unique San Antonio property, see the article in the San Antonio Express News by Karisa King, along with photos by Edward Ornelas.

11802 Sandman - Available in Enchanted Forest in North Central San Antonio for $224,900!

Come splash in your own back yard oasis this summer in Enchanted Forest!  Large in-ground pool and spa for the kids to enjoy when school's out, located in a private fenced yard on a greenbelt lot.  The lot is .28 acres big and is located on a green belt.

The home is big enough for a large family, with four bedrooms, three and 1/2 baths, and approximately 2700 square feet.  There's a large family room with beamed ceiling, hardwood floors, fireplace and built-ins, as well as a secluded gameroom with wet bar and storage room.  A full two car garage is also down.  A full bath near the utility room serves as a cabana bath for the pool.

Upstairs are all four bedrooms (18x15, 15x10, 13x11 and 12x11) along with two full baths and one half bath.  All of the kid's bedrooms have built-in desks and shelves.  The master bedroom has a nice walk-in closet.

Outside you'll find a 22x10 screened-in porch overlooking the pool, and a storage building.  The front yard is terraced and landscaped with native trees, rocks and plants for easy maintenance.

Children attend highly acclaimed North East ISD, with Harmony Hills Ele., Eisenhower Middle School and Churchill High School.

Give us a call to come take a look and make this beautiful home yours!

Happy New Year!

It's a new year, and there are hopes that the recession and its effect on local real estate are over.  Greater San Antonio Builders Association recently held their annual housing forecast where the outlook was for a slowly improving market in 2011. 

The highpoints of the discussion included:

• New home construction in 2010 was up 5.5% from 2009.  Projected new home starts in 2011 are expected to be up another 9%.
• Builders have scaled back production since 2007, leaving San Antonio with one of the tightest markets in the US in supply of new homes.
• Occupancy rates in San Antonio apartments are now above 90%, representing a pool of potential home buyers in the future.
• Texas issued more than twice as many home-building permits in 2010 as the next closest state, Florida.
• In 2010, the bulk of the new home sales in San Antonio were homes priced under $225,000.

New Terminal Opening at the San Antonio International Airport

The new terminal is opening at the San Antonio Airport this week.  Terminal B, as it is being called, cost $108 million and will begin serving passengers next month.  The goal is to have final certifications complete and security checks done before Thanksgiving, when holiday travel hits high gear.

Terminal B replaces an aging 1950's era building that was last upgraded in the 1960's for Hemisfair '68.  The 251,000-square-foot structure is the crowning piece of a $635 million capital program at the airport that has created more long-term parking, doubled the facility's vehicle-carrying capacity with a bi-level roadway and improved other features, including its baggage-handling and screening system.  San Antonio hopes the new Terminal B at International Airport will have an oversized impact on both travelers and the city's aviation future.
 
 

Sales of Existing Homes In San Antonio Have Slowed

From the San Antonio Express News' Jennifer Hiller comes:

San Antonio home sellers and real estate agents aren't quite singing the summertime blues, but sales of existing homes slowed considerably in July.  The number of home sales dropped 25 percent in July when compared with the same month in 2009, dipping to 1,491, according to data released Tuesday by the San Antonio Board of Realtors. 

The likely culprit of the unseasonable doldrums: the federal government's $8,000 carrot offered to first-time home buyers and $6,500 to some current homeowners, which was available to those who could go under contract by the end of April.  The tax credits boosted the number of home sales in the springtime, but most of those deals had closed by the time July rolled around.  “What we saw in the spring market was a surge in sales for the tax credit,” said Marietta Alba, SABOR chairwoman. 



But sales volume is still up 6 percent for the year, with 10,922 sales so far compared with 10,297 by the same time in 2009.  The expiring federal tax credits are also a likely reason the median sales price rose slightly, to $160,800.  Alba said that July saw an unusually high number of sales of homes above $500,000 — a group of buyers unlikely to be swayed by the federal tax credit — and a lower number of sales below the $200,000 mark most popular with first-time buyers. 


Earlier in the year, the number of first-time buyers in the market helped push the median price down slightly.  As the market moves out of its traditional peak season, Alba said SABOR expects the rest of the year to be steady, if unspectacular. 


“Our interest rates are still remarkably low and we're glad about that. Job growth continues,” Alba said. “We're still a steady and stable market.”  Homes sold slightly faster in July than they did in 2009, in an average of 84 days, which was 11 fewer than last year. And there were 1,430 pending sales at the end of July. 

Real estate agents and home builders both have noticed a drop-off in business from the usual summer frenzy. Most home buyers try to close a deal and move before the school year starts.  “I think we saw an increase until the month of May. In June we saw a drop,” said Richard Zepeda, an agent with Keller Williams Heritage.  Now Zepeda said he has noticed that builders again are offering good incentives to buyers and larger-than-usual agent commissions, as high as 7 percent, to spur interest. 
“The interest rates are so historically low,” Zepeda said. “It's the best time to buy if you can, especially while other people are still sitting on the fence.” 

What's that Pretty Blue Flowering Shrub I See All Around San Antonio?

That pretty blue flowering shrub you're seeing in San Antonio right now is the

blue plumbago.  It is the favorite blue-flowered plant for our area. It has a growth habit like a tomato. It will grow up fences or walls or spread along the ground if it is not contained.


The foliage of blue plumbago is light green and generally evergreen. The winter of 2009-10 was an exception when most plumbagos froze to the ground but resprouted.  The quarter-size flat flower is light blue. Butterflies will feed from the flowers all year if the winter is mild. Blue plumbago prospers in sun or shade.  This photo is from my back yard in an area that gets morning and afternoon sun.  It's light blue color looks amazing near the blue waters of my pool.

There are other blue-flowering plants and shrubs in the San Antonio area... blue salvias,  the blue-flowered vitex, and the dwarf Mexican petunia which comes in blue or pink varieties.  It is an outstanding ground cover for sun or shade with an attractive blue-purple bloom. The bloom resembles a petunia but is more tubular. It is a favorite nectar source for butterflies and hummingbirds.

Happy gardening San Antonio... and why not add a little blue into your garden this summer?

1906 Creek Mountain in Encino Park - New Listing

Just listed at $179,900 in Encino Park in far north San Antonio, this home at 1906 Creek Mountain features over 2000 square feet with three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and a full 2 car garage.  There's a living room down with tall ceilings, brick fireplace, and an open staircase.  Upstairs is a large loft for the kids to enjoy.  Located in Encino Park near the community center, the whole family can walk to the neighborhood pool and playground.  French doors off the living room lead to a tree shaded side patio.  Updates include recent paint and carpet, and a new roof is on the way.  Cement fiber siding, storage building, front yard sprinkler system and a water softener are included.  Don't wait, call today for an appointment to see this fine home.

Home Sales are Increasing in San Antonio; Prices are Not

The May real estate numbers are in for San Antonio, and the number of sales of existing homes in May increased 19 percent to 1,928 sales compared with the same month in 2009, according to a new report from the San Antonio Board of Realtors.  But the median price of a San Antonio home dipped 4 percent to $145,900 compared with May 2009.

The increase in the number of sales this May has been credited to the tax incentives for homebuyers that ended April 30th. 

A report this week based on the Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes said San Antonio home prices could slide slightly this year, but only by 0.5 percent. Nationally, a 3.1 percent decline is expected this year, with steep home price declines continuing in hard-hit markets such as Nevada, Arizona and Florida.  Once again, San Antonio is one of the more stable real estate markets in the country.

With around 7.8 months of inventory — meaning that if no more homes came onto the market, it would take 7.8 months, in theory, to sell the entire inventory at the current pace — the market remains tipped slightly in favor of buyers. About 6.5 months of inventory is considered a market balanced between buyers and sellers. 

The other good news?  The average number of days on the market for a San Antonio home that sold in May was 83, a quicker pace than the year before.

San Antonio Economy Gets a 400 Bioscience Jobs Boost

The big announcement yesterday was that InCube Labs is going to open a research facility in San Antonio.  It will be a research laboratory, focused on developing major medical breakthroughs.  InCube's founder and CEO, Mir Imran, is the developer of the automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which has become a standard in cardiovascular care.  He announced that he picked San Antonio over other Texas cities because of its research institutions, the military and the business community.

The good news for the San Antonio economy?  The company will create jobs with salaries ranging from $50,000 to over $200,000 which Mayor Julian Castro said is on track with his push for higher paying jobs in the city.  According to Imran, InCube will also launch five life science companies in San Antonio: three by the end of this year and two more within three years after that.  The companies will create about 400 jobs and will collectively spend $100 million.

Bexar County Property Appraisals Have Dropped for Many Homeowners

According to Jennifer Hiller with the Express News, "After years of steady price increases, in 2009, Bexar County property values dipped 2 percent. Prior to that, residential appraisals hadn't decreased in Bexar County since the savings and loan crisis of the early '90s."

The higher dollar neighborhoods like The Dominion, Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills have remained steady while the lesser expensive, more tract-home neighborhoods in other areas of town have sustained larger number of foreclosures which have brought those neighborhood appraisals down.  The average San Antonio home value in 2009 stood at $146,702, while in 2010 it is at $145,682.  

Not all homes are going down. Some have seen increases in their valuations, and have received notices from the Bexar Appraisal District. Only those properties with an increase of $1,000 or more will receive a letter in the mail with the information on how to file a protest. Meanwhile, property owners can check the appraised value online at bcad.org to see if the values have changed. All owners can protest, even if the values have decreased and the owner hopes to lower the value further.