Home production tracks to 9,000 starts in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO – While home building slowed a bit during third quarter, builders still are on pace to start more than 9,000 homes this year.

During third quarter 2013, there were 2,304 single-family home starts in the San Antonio area, according to MetroStudy.

That number is up from 2,243 starts recorded last year, a nearly 3 percent increase. Through 3Q 2013, the number of home starts was 8,508, a more than 9 percent jump compared to last year when there were 7,796.

The quarterly gain bested the previous quarter, when starts fell about 2 percent. But it wasn’t especially impressive when compared to the existing housing market, which has seen year-over-year sales increases for 24 consecutive months, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR).

A typical residential lot along the Loop 1604 corridor sells for about $40,000. At that price, homes hit the market at more than $200,000. In October, the median sales price for an existing single-family home was $168,800, according to data from SABOR.

Currently, there are about 1,200 finished homes available — about 1.8 months of inventory — and another 3,000 under construction.

Read more at the San Antonio Express-News.