San Antonio Real Estate - Christina Whipple

It is common knowledge that housing in Texas is more affordable than in most other parts of the country. Just how much more affordable is clearer in light of changes to the Real Estate Center's Texas Housing Affordability Index (THAI). The Texas median-income family earns 79 percent more than necessary to acquire the median-priced Texas home at $129,100.

The equation for the affordability index is: Index = Median Family Income (MFI) Required Income to Qualify for a Conventional Purchase Mortgage (RI) Where: RI = Required Monthly Mortgage Payment × 12 Qualifying Ratio (QR)

The qualifying ratio is the lender-stipulated maximum ratio of monthly mortgage payment to gross monthly income allowed for a borrower to qualify for a mortgage loan. The required monthly mortgage payment is the amount the borrower will have to pay on an 80 percent, conventional mortgage at the effective interest rate for the area.

What this all means in generic terms is that it is easier for the average family living in Texas to purchase a home than for the average family living in most other areas of the country.

Over the next ten years, the San Antonio metropolitan statistical area will experience a 3.4 percent increase in employment each year while the population will grow at an average 2.7 percent annual rate over the same period. Personal income will jump 8 percent each year over the same period in the metro area - which encompasses Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe and Wilson counties, according to an Economic Forecast Study conducted by Jon Hockenyos with TXP Inc. in Austin on behalf of the city of San Antonio and Bexar County. Regionally, the population within the Interstate Highway 35 corridor - which stretches from San Antonio to Austin - will grow 2.3 percent annually over the next ten years, jobs will grow at a 2.8 percent annual rate, and personal income will grow at a 7.2 percent annual rate over the same period. TXP's Hockenyos expects economic development in the Alamo City to flourish once the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas Inc. plant opens this fall. This will create 2,000 factory jobs and another 2,000 on-site supplier jobs. Fort Sam Houston, because of the latest round of base realignments and closures, expects to gain 13,500 jobs and $800 million in new construction. The San Antonio area also should see the continued strength of the tourism, aerospace, biosciences and financial sectors. The report also notes that the "the total impact of relocation activity will add more than 25,000 jobs to the local economy over the next several years."

Source: San Antonio Business Journal