Pavlich said he was seeing sold homes he bid on resurface as rentals. “My fiance’s parents sold their home to Zillow, and we saw it for rent less than a month later,” Pavlich said.
Absentee purchases increased in 40 of San Antonio’s 55 ZIP codes with measurable buyer activity. In many cases, the biggest increases occurred at entry-level price points.
Most of the homes Pavlich considered were in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, a category of housing that is rapidly disappearing. According to Census Bureau data, 52% of new homes sold in the South in 2019 were priced under $300,000. By 2022, that number was 13%.
In Bexar County, Texas, the 78250 zip code searched by Pavlich, the median home price is $236,500 and the rate of absentee sales has nearly doubled. It was 19% in the two years up to March 2020, but has increased to 34.6% since then.
Across San Antonio, the 10 ZIP codes with the largest increases in absentee purchases had median sales prices ranging from the mid-$100,000s to the low $300,000s.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had hoped for a reset in the housing market, but these declines have not materialized. Instead, aspiring homeowners face high interest rates and mortgage rates, as well as persistently high home prices.
Wealthy buyers with cash may benefit from higher mortgage rates.
Redfin’s Bokhari said changes in mortgage rates have slowed the market and opened a window for buyers already there, such as family-owned groups looking to buy rental properties.
Georgia real estate agent Graham said those buyers may keep making the same offers as rising mortgage rates remove competition from the market.
For some, the pressure is too much. Hannah Quinn, a stylist at Madewell in Nashville, spent four months looking for a home in 2022 before giving up and deciding to rent.
“I’ve seen out-of-town investors, AirBnB owners, people who have moved out of town but want to keep their property for passive income,” said Quinn, 24. Ta. “It’s so bad that buying a house is no longer in my interest.
“At some point, I needed a place to live.”
