This summer real estate experts say there’s a shakeup in the San Antonio housing market. Historically, house sales and prices spike up during the summer, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in 2024.
“It’s always a time where it the market takes off. This year we’ve actually seen a little bit of a slowdown,” said Spencer Skubik, Associate Broker for Becker Properties.
Skubik said historically, houses put on the market during the summer sell faster and at a higher price, but so far this year, that hasn’t been the case.
“You cannot overprice in this market right now, because houses are staying on the market longer. There’s a lot more inventory on the market, and you’re competing with a lot more,” said Skubik.
Many real estate experts say high interest rates are to blame. In June, mortgage interest rates were higher than they were when 2024 started.
According to the San Antonio Board of Realtors, in May there was a 3% decline in house sales, compared to May of 2023.
“A lot of people have been holding off to buy because they’re waiting for a lower interest rate, and unfortunately, they keep on pushing it back, and now it looks like they’re not even going to drop it as many times as they said they were,” said Skubik.
Alberto Trujillo says interest rates are the biggest reason he hasn’t bought a bigger house yet.
“My house interest rate right now is really low but to get a loan, your interest rates are pretty high, it’s like three times what my interest rate I right now and so it’s you know, that’s kind of discouraging,” said Trujillo.
Now that Trujillo and his wife are on the market for a bigger home, Trujillo said interest rates are the biggest driving factor in deciding their budget.
“That money, you can get more value of a house instead of paying interest on a loan, so it is taking a big part of it,” said Trujillo.