When most people think about investing in real estate they think of booming cities like New York, San Francisco, or Austin. While these areas have seen remarkable growth and expansion, since recovering from the 2008 crash, there is another city that rivals any of them.
With a booming diversified economy, a large military presence, and growing tech scene, this 7th largest city in the nation is just starting to receive the national attention it deserves.
Even better for investors, it has lagged a decade or two behind other cities of similar size. This has created massive pent up demand that is racing to catch up with current trends toward urban living, denser downtown areas, and walkable neighborhoods.
If you haven’t figure it out yet, I’m talking about San Antonio, Texas. Home to the Alamo, Riverwalk, and the best tex-mex food and breakfast tacos you’ll find anywhere. What you may not have heard of is the nationally acclaimed mixed use development called “The Pearl” which now contains over a dozen restaurants, a hotel converted from an old beer bottling facility, and luxury condo apartments that start at almost $2,000 per month for a studio and going up to $14,000 for the penthouse.
You may also not have heard of the new historic districts popping up around our downtown such as Dignowity Hill and Government Hill, that in the last 3 years seen real estate values increase over 300%.
As house rehabbers are combing the old neighborhoods snapping up early 20th century bungalows and turning them into artistically refined showplaces for new urban dwellers.
San Antonio is quickly coming into it’s own, and the real estate investment opportunities being created are staggeringly profitable.
Here is your peak behind the curtain, and why now is the perfect time to invest somewhere with an almost guaranteed growth curve, a stable economy, and enough new projects to make any savvy investor drool.
Here are just a few of the reasons San Antonio’s real estate market is the place to invest in the coming decade
San Antonio’s Urban Growth Started Late
While San Antonio’s neighboring cities of Austin, Houston, and Dallas have been pushing to redevelop their urban cores for several decades already, San Antonio has only recently started pushing for center city growth.
This gives a very clear growth curve of where San Antonio’s downtown will head over the next several years. This has already happened in numerous downtown neighborhoods where in just a few years the price per square foot for a new or rehabbed home has gone from mid $100’s per ft to well over $200 per ft.
Homes that you could have purchased for between $50,000 – $100,000 non rehabbed are now being sold for $150,000 and up.
Land for new infill developments has also massively appreciated. Lots that were selling for between $10,000 – $20,000 are now between $50,000 – $100,000.
Probably the most exciting thing is these current numbers are still very reasonable! In downtown Houston or Austin the number would be double or triple where San Antonio is currently at.
The City is Pro Development
The city of San Antonio is still excited about developers coming in and making the urban core better. It has numerous programs in place that help reduce or totally remove permitting and impact fees, public/private partnerships for larger multi-family developments are popping up all over, and city planning has a streamlined process for getting projects approved and off the ground.
Again, this is in stark contrast to Austin or Dallas where the city has no interest in assisting developers with their projects. Permitting and rezoning is currently a 2-4 month process in San Antonio; contrasting sharply with a 9 – 18 month timeframe in many similar markets.
San Antonio’s Growth Isn’t Slowing Anytime Soon
From July 1st of 2015 to July 1st of 2016 San Antonio added almost 25,000 new residents. That’s almost 70 new households every single day! These people need new homes, parks, restaurants, and amenities; and many want to live in our growing downtown.
By 2040 over 1 million more people will call San Antonio home. Our still very affordable cost of living, strong job market, and exciting history continue to attract top talent from around the nation. These higher educated and more affluent new residents want the downtown life and the urban experience. Who will give it to them?
Anyone looking to put money into real estate should strongly consider San Antonio as a top contender. The entire south Texas region weathered the real estate crash of 2008 with remarkable ease. So far, the dangerous land speculation that has taken place in New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, or San Francisco hasn’t infected San Antonio. Prices are growing, but largely because we are so far behind other cities of similar size.
The economy is stable and seeing steady consistent growth. It continues to add more high quality jobs that are stealing talent for more overbuilt markets like Austin to our north.
This incredible opportunity won’t be here forever. The window is closing. Will your legacy be one of action and capitalizing on an opportunity, or will you be telling your children that you missed out on the growth phase of one of the United States next great cities?
If you are interested in learning more about current development opportunities in San Antonio fill out the contact form below and someone from our team will be in touch shortly.
