By Ramzi Abou Ghalioum – Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
‘People wanting to list for spring are already calling me and asking ‘can you come tell us what we need to do to try and get the house ready?”
Despite a chilly year for the housing market, luxury home sales are thriving.
In 2023, home sales for million-dollar houses soared above the previous year’s figures, according to sales data from the San Antonio Board of Realtors that shows year-to-date sales are up 34%.
Most of the action is between the $1 million to $2 million mark. SABOR data shows home sales between $500,000 and $750,000 are up 18%, while home sales between $750,000 and $1 million are down 12%.
There is also a caveat — while $1 million home sales are up, the price bracket also boasts the highest number of months of inventory on the market.
Jason Glast, a luxury agent spearheading the Jason Glast Group at local brokerage Phyllis Browning Co., said that is rare.
“Those two things don’t usually go hand in hand,” he said.
He attributed it in part to interest rates. While the luxury market is less sensitive to interest rate fluctuations, Glast estimated that about 75% of his clients between the $1 million and $1.5 million marks finance their homes. Though, all-cash transactions are more common higher up the price bracket.
He said that things are already shaping up for a strong spring buying season.
“January and February have been much busier for me and my team than last year,” Glast said. “People wanting to list for spring are already calling me and asking, ‘Can you come tell us what we need to do to try and get the house ready?'”
While those homes aren’t ready to be shown, he says they’re already in the hopper — and that things might start to get busy as the school year rounds out and the homebuying season perks up.
He said neighborhoods like Olmos Park, Terrell Hills and Alamo Heights continue to enjoy enormous popularity, and that Hill Country Village and Shavano Park are the top choices for buyers who want large lots inside San Antonio.
Glast said new developments like a new acre-lot project near Boerne with luxury and custom home lots could prove to be a valuable source of new business.
“People are desperately searching for more inventory in Boerne,” he said.
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