Mark Zandi with Moody’s Analytics, says the same fundamentals are still true: If you can afford it, there are a lot of advantages to homeownership. With a fixed interest rate, your home payment never goes up. But your rent will climb in most places. And even if prices don’t rise that much — if you pay down the mortgage every month, and you don’t take out a big home-equity loan — there’s an automatic savings for the future built into owning.

“This is why homeownership has been such an important part of the American Dream, because people have used it as a way to save. And it’s been a relatively safe way to save,” Zandi says. “Now of course, as we know as we have seen, there are ups and downs. But in general it’s been a pretty good investment.”
Everybody is very nervous and reticent to dive back in, but it’s the people who do that benefit in the long run.

Buy Now To ‘Benefit In The Long Run

Zandi says the housing crash hasn’t changed the nature of homeownership.

“The other thing to consider is that like any asset — after a crash, after prices have fallen very quickly — everybody is very nervous and reticent to dive back in, but it’s the people who do that who benefit in the long run,” he says.

Zandi has been tracking home prices as they’ve fallen in cities and neighborhoods across the country. And he’s asking this question: Does it make sense for people to buy a home right now?

“I think the arithmetic is such that if you plan to live in your home five or more years, then you should really consider buying a single-family home in most parts of the country at this point in time,” he says. “Prices have fallen so far, that single-family housing now is very, very attractive; very affordable [...] and it’s now even attractive relative to renting.”

Cost Of Owning Has Sunk

While it’s been getting cheaper to own a home, it’s actually been getting more expensive to rent a place to live.
Gleb Nechayev is a housing economist with CBRE Econometric Advisors, a real estate research firm in Boston. Nechayev has a chart that shows the cost of owning a house compared to renting. Back in 2006, the cost-of-owning line on the chart was reaching its peak, but now the line has plunged down — like the cliff of a mountain.

The Buy vs. Rent Ratio Over Time

These days, the monthly cost of renting or buying a home is about the same. That one-to-one ratio is the lowest in 25 years. That’s down from 2006, just before the housing market crashed, when the cost of owning was 46 percent higher than renting.

Source: Gleb Nechayev/CBRE Econometric Advisors

“We are at the very bottom of that mountain right now and we have never seen that ratio so low,” Nechayev says.
Nechayev’s data goes back to 1986. And he says since then, it’s never been this cheap to own a house as compared to the cost of renting. Of course, these are national averages and there are some big differences depending on the city and neighborhood and type of home.
But overall, it’s gotten so cheap that Nechayev is puzzled why more people aren’t buying.

“The fact that we haven’t seen people jumping at this opportunity does suggest that we might be witnessing some kind of changing perception of homeownership,” he says.

Nechayev says younger would-be homebuyers may be deciding to live in cities, where it can still be harder to find and afford a nice home or condo in a good neighborhood.

And he says job mobility is a big issue for many people in the still shaky economy. If they have to move to take a new job, it’s a lot easier to do as a renter.

Although not all of San Antonio has a reason to cheer, the luxury home market certainly does. The lower price points in the San Antonio real estate market update are still struggling to maintain ground, but the luxury home market is witnessing a flurry of activity; everything from multiple offers to cash deals.

John Flournoy, has even gone so far as to call the San Antonio real estate market a “tale of two cities.” He goes on to say that “we’re seeing people come out of the rental pool because they’ve been able to sell their homes elsewhere.”

The entry level market in San Antonio, however, can’t say the same, and it seems that gas prices are to blame. Many people, with fears of increasing gas prices, are now finding that their budgets aren’t stretching as far as they once did, thereby leaving them on the sidelines and out of the home buying arena.

And, of course, the luxury home buyers simply aren’t affected by rising gas prices.

Many realtors are finding that their high-priced homes are selling quickly, yet they are struggling to move those homes priced at even $75 per square foot.

Some agents, however, have noted that the San Antonio real estate market update is not as dire as it seems, as homes priced under $100,000 are moving fairly well, thanks to investors and low interest rates. The low interest rates are a big help, as it allows home buyers to pay around the same each month for their mortgage payment as they paid for their rent.

Finally, some realtors see the market as quite simple: The more expensive homes are often times the homes that need little work, and buyers are looking for homes they can move into. Many of the lower-priced homes, on the other hand, require updates and repairs; neither of which many home buyers are willing to tackle these days.

Texas is fortunate that it did not have quite the fall out with foreclosures, the lack of jobs that the rest of the country is still recovering from right now. The outlook for the San Antonio real estate market is on the upswing in many sectors, but homes remain a buyers market for the time being. This is due to the tightened rules on approving just about any type of home loans. The sub prime lenders are gone and will not return any time soon, so home shoppers with bad credit would better spend their time restoring their credit to good standing.

Currently homes in the Alamo City, are great targets for investors, and real estate flippers that have the cash to invest, and time to wait until the economy is in a bull market once again. Otherwise a large down payment, a credit score of above seven hundred, and a good job will the only way to get a ten or fifteen year home mortgage approved.

The commercial sector is showing promise, as there are many small businesses that are seeking retail space for coffee shops, diners, and other specialty eating establishments that cater to the large base of tourism that descends on San Antonio year round. Many think that the influx of eating establishments was created from the gaping hole in the employment sector that started a few years back, and people started creating their own incomes from lack of new job opportunities at the time.

Warehouse districts are being picked at by national corporations as they are looking to once again expand in promising markets. Wholesale food distributors and vendor support companies for Sea-World, Fiesta Texas, and the River Walk have been entertaining expansion to larger facilities, as well as a commercial electrical supply distributor.

The sports, and medical industries are on the rise, and currently one of out seven of San Antonio’s employees work in the healthcare or bioscience fields. This dictates that a modicum of growth will come from both, as the population expands, and the large amount of people currently relocating the to the Lone Star State to find jobs to support their families.

Overall, the San Antonio real estate has remained resilient in spite of what the media pours out daily, and is above the fold regardless of how much the media has been reporting that the sky is falling. In some ways, you might say San Antonio is doing better than Houston and Dallas currently

San Antonio military relocation is commonplace, thus it comes as no surprise that the process of relocating military families is quite organized. The United States Military is an important part of San Antonio and has been for many years. It is a part of the San Antonio culture, economy and history and has done much to shape San Antonio and what it’s become today.

The military’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) of 2005 has been a huge boost for military relocation in San Antonio and the military expects “unprecedented growth” by 2011.

The Economic Impact of BRAC

Some estimates have the impact of BRAC to be quite dramatic, as it is expected that BRAC will generate an additional $8.3 billion in “positive economic impact through 2011.” Compared to the 2006 number of $5.6 billion, this is significant.

The Military also expects that, beyond 2011, BRAC will continue to make a strong economic impact, with an additional $2.9 billion annually expected.

The BRAC recommendations will have a huge impact on all of the military facilities in San Antonio.

The San Antonio BRAC program is underway in San Antonio and is thought to have the largest economic impact in the city’s history with more than 10,000 military families moving here. BRAC will also have an additional impact on military relocation in San Antonio, as it is expected to transform Fort Sam Houston into the largest global medical complex.

A Boost to the Economy

It is important to realize that military relocation through the BRAC program doesn’t just help military families, but instead improves and reinforces many of the sectors – and ultimately the economy – in San Antonio, including health care, education, communications, bioscience, intelligence, technology and security.

Through the BRAC program and military relocation in San Antonio, the city is expected to grow by leaps and bounds, adding thousands of jobs and bringing in students to train in San Antonio.

The joint effort by the City of San Antonio, Bexar County and the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce implements BRAC to strengthen the economy and revitalize neighborhoods.

San Antonio Board of REALTORS® reports median single-family home price up 0.2% in Oct-10 over Sep-10, sales fall to 1,054.

Oct-10 San Antonio Board of REALTORS® Regional Sales and Price Activity

Single Family = Single Family Detached, Manufactured, Garden/Patio Detached, Modular, Townhome, Other
Condo = Low-Rise (1-3 Stories), Townhome Style, High-Rise (8+ Stories), Mid-Rise (4-7 Stories), Other
Reports generated from Clarus MarketMetrics®

Alamo Heights luxury homes are the epitome of wealth and grandeur. They are often tops when it comes to interior and exterior design and architecture, and any remodels are thoughtfully carried out so that luxury abounds.

If you are looking to purchase or sell Alamo Heights luxury homes, or if you have a large remodel in mind, here is our list of some of the top remodeling trends found in luxury homes across America:

• Home Automation – Just a click of a switch or the push of a button is all that’s needed to control any number of home gadgets and electronics throughout a luxury home. Home automation has become quite a popular concept over the last few years and, as a result, it is common to find home automation in luxury homes that controls everything from the lighting and security to the television’s surround sound or stereo system.
• Separate Spaces – No longer is a master bedroom suite enough to satisfy the needs of buyers of Alamo Heights luxury homes. Homeowners now expect to have completely separate his-and-her bathroom and changing room spaces. It is now quite common to see many separate living areas throughout Alamo Heights luxury homes, including bathrooms, closets, studies, and even hobby rooms.
• Sliding Glass Doors – No longer is it adequate to provide a lovely set of French doors from the family room to the backyard patio. Instead, Alamo Heights luxury homes now feature walls of sliding glass doors that allow the homeowner to slide them completely open, thereby making the outdoor spaces an extension of the indoor spaces for entertaining purposes.
• LED Lighting – Don’t let your next landscape or hardscape remodel project be without LED lighting. Many homeowners are now changing out their regular landscape and outdoor lighting with energy-efficient LED technology. In addition to saving energy and cutting down on energy costs, LED lights can operate for years without being replaced.
• Exotic Countertops – From teak and granite to enameled lava, countertops in Alamo Heights luxury homes just keep getting more exotic.

Despite the fact that the Bexar County real estate marketplace has statistically shown a somewhat higher exposure to subprime loans than average, and rising prime loan foreclosures have increased, the rising increase is still below average in comparison to nation-wide figures. In fact, as of this writing the overall foreclosure rate for the San Antonio area in particular, is down 0.8% from February.

Overall, most major cities in Texas remain the fastest growing in the United States, and due to a diversified economy, Texas is likely to be the most prominent Sun Belt survivor of the nation’s economic chaos.

Most of the population of Bexar County is located within San Antonio proper, the seventh most populated city in the U.S. An economy anchored by tourism, some of the finest health care facilities in the nation, defense and financial services, continue to attract new companies and a growing work force, making Bexar County one of the most well positioned places in the country to experience continued growth and opportunity.

Government sponsored financial incentives for new and upgrade home buyer’s promises to spur the Bexar County real estate sector into new growth and a more positive outlook for the Bexar County real estate industry as a whole within the not-to-distant future.

Bexar County commercial property foreclosures are of increasing interest to investors who see an unprecedented opportunity to invest in properties that can bring immediate income through short-term rental, and eventual sale of the property for big profits when a strong market upswing finally takes off.

The San Antonio luxury home market is alive and fairly well, but nowhere near as hot a market as in the days prior to the country’s financial downturn. The federal tax credit incentives for new and move up home buyers isn’t expected to have much of an impact on the luxury market, since buyers at that level ( $500k + ) would usually not base a buy or not buy decision on the current home buying tax credits now in place.

As resale home buyers see listing prices slowly beginning to rise in the first quarter of 2010, sales in the $200k price range are beginning to perk up considerably this spring, spurred on by federal tax incentives and very attractive buyer’s market conditions. However, for the most part, luxury properties in the San Antonio area are still experiencing much longer than average time on the market then more moderately priced properties.

San Antonio Luxury homes for sale

A wide range of new and resale properties designed to accommodate every life style and offering every amenity imaginable can be found in the San Antonio area. From high-rise condos offering magnificent city views to sprawling ranch properties and luxurious villas of impressive architectural design, the San Antonio luxury homes for sale marketplace is diverse and impressive.

The Bottom Line

A greater demand for moderately priced housing and a lesser demand for high-end properties would mean that a luxury property buyer in San Antonio has more leverage now in negotiating a purchase price than in a more stable economic environment.

No question the recession, as it has affected San Antonio. is showing definite signs of easing. Home prices, though slowly rising in appreciation are still affordable, and unemployment figures are slowly dropping.

As to foreclosure sales in San Antonio as of the latest statistics available at this time –and subject to continuous fluctuation- there are 4,401 foreclosures on the market offered at a median price of $93,738, down 0.8% from February.

The Foreclosure Process

• Pre-foreclosure: In pre-foreclosure the bank has served notice that the mortgage is in default, and the borrower is given a specific time to bring the mortgage payments up to date or face eviction and loss of the property (foreclosure.) During this time the property owner still has time to “cure” the default or enter into negotiations with a buyer. If the owner has sufficient equity in the property, the buyer may be able purchase the property from a “motivated” seller at a considerable discount

• Public Auction: Foreclosed property purchased at public auction can offer real bargains and real risks as well, unless the potential buyer has had a chance to title search, examine the property condition, etc. Public auctions can be tempting for would-be investors, but unless one has the knowledge and experience required there can be many pitfalls.

• Properties repossessed by the bank (REO) due to a mortgage default are resold to recover the loan amount due. These properties generally will have needed maintenance and repair and title clearance taken care of by the lender. Although not always the rule, REOs can sometime be purchased as a “short sale” meaning the property is offered for sale at a lower price than the amount still owed the bank. Negotiation outcomes are variable, depending on the particular property and prevailing market conditions

A multipurpose building project for Texas A&M University-San Antonio was approved on Friday, March 26th. The project is scheduled to begin in April, and planned for completion by July, 2011.

The building will occupy 700 acres of land between Zarzamora and Moursund Roads on the south side of Loop 410. The 91,000 square foot building will house the University library, the bookstore, student services, classrooms, faculty, administrative offices, a computer center, labs, and a food service facility.

Despite a slowly recovering economy, San Antonio expects to see a moderate increase in new construction (about 6 percent) in 2010, mostly public works and utility projects.

• More Real Estate Happenings Around Town

• Fort Sam Houston: A multimillion dollar contract has been awarded to the M.A. Mortenson Construction Company (based in Minneapolis) to build a new headquarters building at the Fort for the Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM).

• The San Antonio Shopping Center: Dating back to the 1950’s the San Antonio Shopping Center, located on El Camino Real, at San Antonio Road is one of the largest of its kind in Mountain View, and long due for modernization. A modernization and expansion is scheduled for startup in June or July, 2010. The project was awarded to the San Francisco based developer Merlone Geier Partners, and is expected to generate some 700 construction jobs and about 600 permanent jobs after its expected completion in a year to year-and-a-half.

• The coming summer should see the grand opening of two high-profile luxury condominium projects in San Antonio; the Broadway, located at the corner of Hildebrand Avenue and Broadway, adjacent to Alamo Heights, and the Alteza, atop the Grand Hyatt in the heart of downtown. These super luxury condo homes will range in price from approximately $300,000 for a one bedroom, to over three million for a penthouse