San Antonio’s new-home market is quietly warming up for summer. In May, builders closed more new houses, prices inched down, and homes spent less time sitting on the market, giving local buyers a bit more leverage than they had earlier in the spring.
According to a report from HomesUSA.com, Ben Caballero said, "May brought another encouraging increase in new home sales, but the market is not where it was a year ago." He added that May's closings could end up the strongest of the year if interest rates stay put, a reminder that mortgage costs are still quietly calling a lot of the shots.
Key Numbers From The May Report
In the San Antonio area, builders closed 1,179 new homes in May, up from 1,033 in April. The average new-home price slipped to $333,952, a month-to-month drop of $4,277. Sellers are landing closer to what they ask, with a sales-to-list ratio of 97.94 percent, and average days on market improved to 103.53 days in May from 109.13 in April, according to CultureMap San Antonio.
Statewide Trends And Builder Outlook
Zooming out, the same HomesUSA.com report shows Texas-wide new-home sales rising to 6,339 in May as the spring market strengthened across Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. Statewide, average days on market eased to about 121.85 days. Even so, higher inventory has builders keeping a close eye on pricing and demand. That mix, Caballero notes, calls for patience and disciplined pricing from builders, even as buyer activity edges up rather than surges.
What Buyers Should Watch
On the ground, resale and new-construction homes in San Antonio are not marching in lockstep. The San Antonio Board of Realtors reports existing-home median prices and selling times that differ from the new-home side of the market. For a county-by-county look at resale activity, check out this county-level resale snapshot, which cites SABOR data.
Over the next few weeks, buyers and agents will want to keep an eye on pending sales, active listings and any movement in mortgage rates to see whether May’s modest new-home momentum holds or fizzles as summer wears on.
