SAN ANTONIO — Home prices are up in San Antonio, but one area is seeing the second biggest jump in the state.
Home values on the east side, in the 78203 zip code, have increased 235 percent over the past seven years. Only Round Top in Fayette County has seen a bigger surge. That's great news for sellers and investors, but not for those who are already there and planning to stay.
"Oh they're going through the roof," said Joe Diaz who has lived on Nevada Street with his father for over five years. He's seen home values but also property taxes in this neighborhood that sits less than a mile from downtown and less than that from the Alamodome, get higher and higher every year.
"We're seeing that little creep going up and up and up, but at some point there's got to be enough," Diaz told us.
"The people that have purchased homes through a mortgage, they are qualified for the payment. The problem is when your taxes go up, I don't know, $1,500 to $2,000 in the year," said Silvia Alcaraz, a realtor from the Premier Realty Group.
According to the report by TexasRealEstateSource.com, in the 78203 zip code just east of the Alamodome which includes the Arena District and Historic Gardens, average home prices surged 235%, from $55,287 in 2016 to $185,505 in 2023. That's great if you're trying to sell, but not if you're staying put.
"From the business point of view, investments, of course you should hold on to them," Alcaraz said. "But are they making you money then?"
You're making bank if you're sell 627 Claude W Black. In June of 2016 Zillow's Zestimate was $106,000. It is currently listed for $359,900, more than three times as much!
"Hey if you can flip a home and make a buck that's great. But if you're not moving you're paying the taxes for it," Diaz added.
Alcaraz also told us homeowners should fight their property taxes if they think they are too high, and to apply for the Homestead Exemption to get the discount on those taxes too.