The City of San Antonio can be seen as an ideal location for individuals specializing in real estate and mortgage note investments. This declaration can be made due to the stunning performance of the local economy over the past several years, driven by a wide range of amenities and resources offered by this city. The unique economic and cultural characteristics on display in the city has made San Antonio one of the fastest growing cities in the two decades from 1990 to 2010. It should be noted that there are niches of real estate professionals and investors, including the investors at The Note Factory, that have been quietly taking advantage of this steady and thriving economy.
The growth is projected to continue in this south–central Texan city well into the next decade, based partly on its inclusion in the “southwestern corner of an urban region known as the Texas Triangle,” one of eleven megaregions in the United States. According to the article 'Texas Triangle,' a megaregion is an urban area which is much greater in scale than a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), as defined by the US Census Bureau.
However, it is important to point out here that seventy percent (70%) of all Texas residents – equating to approximately 13.8 million in population – called this section home in 2004; and five of the twenty largest cities in the US were located here in this triangle, which derives its name from the connecting of the three main cities by a highway system “Interstate 45, Interstate 10, and Interstate 35, which form a triangle when connected.”
It is said that the population of this section “has been projected to grow by more than 65%, or an additional ten million” people in the next 40 years to total 78% of all Texans; and San Antonio, also the county seat of Bexar County, will be a major beneficiary of this growth. But so too will be the real estate investors and members of other professions who currently resides here and those who will decide to relocate to the area and make it their home.
The San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR), the largest professional trade organization in San Antonio which represents over 7,500 REALTOR members, in its July 2014 statistical release, reported a six percent increase in the average home price over the same period last year to $232,839; and an increase in the median sales price to $188,200 over the same period last year, while the total number of sales for the month grew by 6% to 2,474; and the average number of days a home remained on the market unsold, decreased by 12% to 65 from the 74 recorded in June 2013.
The data is a clear indication that San Antonio is trending upwards in all areas of the real estate market. In fact, the SABOR 2014 Chairman of the Board, Missy Stagers, is quoted in the release as saying that “The number of homes priced between $200,000 to $500,000 has shown considerable growth this year with those homes making up 41 percent of the sales.” The real estate market activity reported in this SABOR release document can be attributed to continued low interest rates, but it might also be a sign that SA has fully recovered from all recessionary symptoms, since growth was not restricted to just mid-range home prices.
There were also increases in upper/lower-priced areas of the market, which is described by the “release” as follows: homes “priced over $500,000 accounted for five percent of sales, while homes priced below $200,000 made up 54 percent of sales. Year-to-date 11,655 homes have been sold in San Antonio, a three percent increase over the previous year.” It would be somewhat dismissive however, of other factors that contributed and continue to contribute, to the appeal of this city to investors, since medical professionals, educational professionals, and even the US government are well represented here.
In his article, 'Strong local economy spurs San Antonio housing market' published to the Independence Title Company website, writer Mark Sprague poses the question, “What is causing this surge in interest in the Alamo City?” He uses the “Alamo City” to colloquially refer to San Antonio, but perhaps also to suggest that there are other aspects of the San Antonio community and lifestyle that may be as attractive as, or more appealing than, the real estate investment opportunities.
For example, San Antonio is, after all, home to the Alamo, the River Walk, the Tower of the Americas, the Alamo Bowl, Marriage Island and other “commercial entertainment attractions, which include SeaWorld and Six Flags Fiesta Texas theme parks; as well as the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, one of the largest such events in the country; not to mention the numerous military facilities, and the South Texas Medical Center, which is the only medical research and care provider in the South Texas region.
The San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau reports that approximately 26 million tourists visits the above mentioned San Antonio attractions each year, so the city also boasts a robust tourism economy as well. It is an area that is also credited with their creation of over 90,000 jobs annually, a statistic job seekers will be happy to hear, and real estate investors can continue to relish.