San Antonio Board of REALTORS® Housing Forecast was January 8, 2015.

According to guest speaker Mario Hernandez, President of the Economic Development Foundation, the population of San Antonio increased 2.04 percent from the previous year. That is a phenomenal increase for just one calendar year but the good news is that means more home buyers. Hernandez also revealed a 2.62 percent increase in job growth over the last year and a drop in the unemployment rate from 6.5 in 2012 to 4.3 currently. Hernandez also shared that San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the United States and our cost of living is 9.2 percentage points below the national average.

Housing Market statistics for a look back at the year was presented. As of the end of November, a total of 22,655 homes have been sold in the city. That’s a four percent increase from the previous year. Days on market dropped to just 68 days, which is down seven days from 2013.

Dr. Mark Dotzour of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M provided valuable information as always to include that 6.5 months of inventory is the national average instead of what is normally quoted as 6 months. San Antonio is currently below that number with 3.9 months of inventory. Dr. Dotzour’s suggestion was the need to build more homes. If home prices are going up and there is more housing inventory then the market is good.

All in all the message was it is “great” to live in San Antonio where the economy is good and growing. With affordable housing and low cost of living we are in the perfect place. That being said if you are considering to sell you house now is a great time to do so. Interest rates are still low with more incentives for first time home buyers being considered this year. There are many buyers out there looking for a house and just can’t find any. You can’t go into a store and buy something if the shelves are empty.