September 22, 2005

San Antonio is the second most expensive housing market in Texas, second only to Dallas, according to a new national study by Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp.

The residential real estate company’s Home Price Comparison Index compared the cost in 310 U.S. markets for a 2,200-square-foot, four-bedroom home with two and a half bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage.

At $261,325, Dallas was the most expensive market in Texas. It was followed by San Antonio at $219,075 and Austin at $199,381. Comparable homes in Houston and Fort Worth sell for $151,600 and $148,510, respectively.

The most affordable market in the country was Killeen, Texas, where a similar home costs $131,000.

The national average home price was $401,767, a 13 percent jump from last year. In more than half the markets studied, the average home price was less than $300,000.

The study also found “rapid price appreciation” in communities just outside areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. Coldwell Banker, based in Parsippany, N.J., attributed the increase to an imbalance in housing supply and demand.

12:55 PM CDT on Thursday, September 1, 2005

Associated Press

AUSTIN — Texas has agreed to take in an additional 25,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees from Louisiana and house them in San Antonio.

That’s the announcement Thursday from Texas Governor Rick Perry’s office.

Perry spokesman Robert Black says Louisiana asked Texas to provide shelter for more evacuees. He says Perry has spoken with the mayor and county judge in San Antonio to begin making the plans.

Black says no site’s been selected for housing the refugees and no timetable’s been determined for moving them. He says more details were expected later in the day.

The refugees are in addition to about 25,000 already being moved into the Houston Astrodome — mostly from the Superdome in New Orleans.