Graig Ponthier

In the November issue of Homes & Land of Greater San Antonio, we have provided some interesting statistics (Market Pulse p.41) about for sale by owner properties (FSBO). In 1997, FSBO properties made up approximately 18% of all home sales. At that time, it was predicted that over the next 10 years the number of FSBO sales would grow to about 40% of all properties sold. Knowing what I know about the real estate transaction, it does not surprise me that the number of FSBO sales has actually decreased during this 10 year period. Pure FSBO sales, in which the seller did not know the buyer, represent a historically low 7% of all home sales.

This statistic underscores the success of using a REALTOR. These professionals understand the market and have the knowledge to properly position a home for sale. Even with all today's new technology, FSBO properties still have to face difficult home selling tasks such as properly pricing the home, handling of necessary contracts, negotiating with buyers and most importantly, marketing the home for sale. As you might expect, all of these tasks take time and money, and this is why the use of a REALTOR continues to increase every year. If fact, it is not home sellers that have benefited from all of today's new technology, it is home buyers. Today's home buyers, and their agents, are smarter and better prepared than ever. This is why more and more sellers leave it to a professional.

If your home is currently on the market or if you are thinking of selling your home, don't be discouraged by the upcoming Holiday season. Homes still sell during the Holidays. In San Antonio's summer months, anywhere from 13 - 16% of current inventory is sold each month. Looking back at December 2007 and December 2008, the percentage of inventory sold in each month was 13.2 % and 10.5%, respectively. In terms of inventory sold, this is only a few percentage points off from what is considered the more active time of the year. It's also worth mentioning that if someone is looking at homes during the Holidays, they are serious about buying!

Homes & Land extends our wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Almost regardless of the stage in a real estate cycle, someone benefits. Buyers benefit in a buyers market with more home to choose from at lower prices. Sellers benefit in a sellers market with higher prices and shorter days on the market. The type of market is determined by various statistics and data usually trending in a direction that favors either home buyers or home sellers. When these statistics don't trend in a direction where only one party benefits, as evidenced in the San Antonio data below, this could be seen as a Mixed Market where anyone stands to benefit.

Monthly Supply: At the current August sales pace it would take a little over 6 months to deplete the current single family home inventory. The National Association of REALTORS describes a balanced market as one with between 5 and 7 months inventory. Both home sellers and home buyers stand to benefit in a balanced market.

Active Listing Inventory: With fewer houses on the market, sellers have fewer homes to compete against when listing their home. With fewer choices for buyers, a home may sell faster and closer to its original asking price. Home sellers stand to benefit when listing inventories are lower.

Average Sales Price: A decreasing average sales price gives purchasing power for home buyers and makes buying a home more affordable. Lower sales prices may incentivize someone to "move-up" to a more expensive home or even put someone in the market who originally had no intentions to purchase a home. Homes buyers stand to benefit from decreasing homes prices

All Data from the San Antonio Board of REALTORS

As we predicted, July turned out to be the first month for our area to see an increase in year-over-year single family home sales for San Antonio in quite some time. In fact, it was the first year-over-year increase reported since February 2008, some 17 months ago. This statistic coupled with a slight increase in the median sales price and various other real estate data trends continue to represent that the local market continues to stabilize.

It should come as no surprise that almost 70% of all homes sold during the month of July were less than $200,000. In fact, almost half the sales during the month were less than $150,000. This can be attributed to the success of the $8,000 first time home buyers tax credit which was part of the economic stimulus plan to reinvigorate the housing market. Say what you want about the trillions that have been spent as part of the stimulus package, but this $8,000 credit definitely helped. Obviously not all homes sold under $200,000 were to first time homebuyers, but imagine if you were to remove the chunk of those that were. Without these first time homebuyers, it is unlikely that we would have experienced this year-over-year increase in home sales that we had in July or the six consecutive monthly increases in home sales so far during 2009.

It's fair to compare the success of the $8,000 tax credit to that of the "Cash for Clunkers" program, in that, the stimulus money went into the hands of the consumer. The consumer driven incentives have been the stars of the overall stimulus plan. Even more successful, is the "trickle-up" effect of these plans. Look at the chain of events for the Cash for Clunkers program. Someone is incentivized to buy a car, the salesman makes money, the dealership makes money, the manufacturer makes money, need to order more cars, need to build more cars, need more parts to build cars, need to buy materials to build parts, need more labor to build cars and you end up with GM reporting their first profit in years.

The $8,000 tax credit creates a similar trickle-up effect when multiple parties benefit from the incentivized transaction including inspectors, appraisers, agents, builders, banks, title companies, painters and most importantly, home sellers! Unfortunately, the $8,000 first time home buyer credit is set to expire on December 1^st. There is a big push to extend this deadline, but with so much on the plates of law makers it is unsure if their attention will turn back to the real estate industry. Until then, we will continue to support this consumer driven stimulus incentive as it benefits out local economy.

Incentives to buy one of the fine properties in Homes & Land magazine just keep getting better, especially for first time home buyers. As you may already know, the government is offering an $8,000 tax credit available to qualifying first time home buyers. This was part of the Economic Stimulus Package aimed at reinvigorating the housing market. This deal just keeps getting better. When the incentive was initially offered it was treated as an $8,000 loan to the home buyer which included a payback plan. Subsequent to this initial offering, the plan was "sweetened up" so that the $8,000 credit, which home buyers would receive at tax time, no longer had to be paid back. The $8,000 went into the pockets of first time home buyers with no repayment plan attached.

Now the government has finalized a plan to allow first time home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit at the closing of their home. As opposed to waiting for the refund until after the closing, this new plan will allow buyers who qualify to utilize these funds at the closing table. Previously buyers had to close on their home and then file an amendment to their 2008 taxes or wait to file their 2009 taxes next year, to take advantage of the credit. This new plan will reduce the overall cost of your home at purchase time. However, this free money from the Government won't last forever. It is only available to qualifying home buyers who purchase a home during 2009. So if this incentive affects you, its time to act fast with just six months left in the year.

The Fed has also made low mortgage rates a priority in its strategy to help the housing market. In order to achieve that, the central bank has been buying mortgage backed securities and Treasuries. Since this past fall, it has bought more than $460 billion of mortgage-backed securities and more than $125 billion of Treasury bonds. However, this too won't last forever. Investors worry the government's approach could lead to inflation and push up the government's cost of raising money, meaning higher interest rates. Signs of a recovery in the U.S. and across the globe may attract investors to move out of the relative safe Treasury market and into securities that may yield more, such as corporate bonds, stocks and other debt. While that's generally good news for the U.S., it will make it harder for the Fed to push rates even lower than they already are today. Regardless, today's mortgage rates coupled with buyer incentives and large inventories have created a market ripe for home buyers.

With all these variables affecting the housing market, it underscores the importance of using a Homes & Land REALTOR when buying or selling a home. Whether you're buying your first home, your retirement home or a vacation home from our Coastal Section (June, July and August issues), a Homes & Land RELATOR can explain how these factors and incentives may affect your real estate transaction. Contact a Homes & Land REALTOR today; they're the best in the business.

One of my favorite things about living in San Antonio is its location. No other large metropolitan city in the State of Texas has the locale of San Antonio. A short 30 minute drive in almost any direction will land you among the State’s most beautiful scenery and unique towns. A 30 minute drive in one direction and you find yourself in some of the finest Hill Country settings our State has to offer. Like the rolling hills of Pipe Creek and Bandera to the charm of Boerne and Blanco.

A thirty minute drive in another direction and you’re at one of the most beautiful “under-appreciated” lakes in the State, Canyon Lake. I say this because with blue water, rocky bluffs and crawling with character, it always surprises me how under-developed Canyon Lake is, being do close to San Antonio. If you were to put Canyon Lake 30 minutes outside of Houston, it would be full of residential developments, hotels and high-rise condos, just like Lake Conroe is today.

In just 30 minutes, San Antonian’s can find themselves among some of the States most beautiful topography. Think about it, a thirty minute drive from Houston or Dallas and you would still be in Houston or Dallas.

Living in San Antonio also puts you closer to the coast than any other large metropolitan city, besides Houston. And let’s face it, San Antonian’s love the Texas Coast. That’s why Homes & Land will have a special “Coastal Section” in our June, July and August summer issues. In each if these issues, a section of the magazine will be devoted to Coastal properties primarily focusing on the areas between Rockport and North Padre Island, the closest coastal cities to San Antonio. We hope you enjoy this special addition to the magazine.

I have mentioned before about the importance of owning real estate as part of your investment portfolio. Almost regardless of the risk, real estate can enhance and or improve the overall performance of an investment portfolio. This is mainly because the value of a piece of real estate will work in its own direction based on location, demand, desirability, growth, features, and various other factors. Whether it’s your primary residence in San Antonio, a second home in Rockport or a rental unit in Port Aransas, real estate is a great way to diversity your investments returns.

So pick a weekend and see for yourself. Take a day trip to Canyon Lake or Bandera and see opportunities these areas offer. Have lunch at one of the local establishments. Or pack a bag and head to the Texas Coast