With soaring mortgage interest rates and high prices pushing home ownership out of reach for more would-be buyers, potential sellers of existing homes are staying put and home builders are reevaluating construction plans.
“It’s been a challenge to get people in a home and locked on an interest rate with a monthly payment they can afford,” Glass said. “What we’ve been hearing lately is that people are more inclined to take a wait-and-see approach.”According to the latest report from the San Antonio Board of Realtors, the number of homes sold in Bexar and surrounding counties in September fell 13 percent from a year ago — the sixth-straight month of declines.
It’s also weighing on home builders’ confidence, which has fallen for 10 straight months, according to a survey out Wednesday. In San Antonio, the median price of a home sold in September slipped to $337,200. Though prices have fallen month-over-month for the past five months, the September median was still up 14 percent from a year ago.“We expect a gradual increase in the supply of homes available for sale, as compared to historically low levels last year,” Khater said. “The combination of much lower demand and higher supply will cause home prices to decrease during the next year.
Hasslocher said there’s still plenty of demand as San Antonio’s population expands and prices remain lower than in many other large cities.“Even though we’re not at the pace we were last year or the year before, Realtors are still selling and I think the market’s going to remain strong,” she said.Across the U.S., sales decreased 23.8 percent in September from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median price rose 8.
That’s got builders hustling to make deals. In a survey of its members last month, Konter’s group found half said they were offering mortgage rate buy-downs, free amenities and other inducements to close sales.