From the San Antonio Express-News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...e_traffic.html
Dream homes with nightmare traffic
By Jennifer Hiller - Express-News
San Antonio residents couldn't escape to the far North Side fast enough a few years ago.
In 2006, home sales were so hot in the Stone Oak area — in part due to an impending school district boundary change — that homes sold in days or weeks, some even by word-of-mouth before they went on the market.
Today, selling a home north of Loop 1604 along the U.S. 281 corridor can be a much more arduous task, with sale prices flat and homes taking longer to sell than in the rest of San Antonio.
Increasingly aggravating traffic along U.S. 281 — and the uncertainty over how or when it will be solved — has the local real estate community anxious about the future of San Antonio's popular far North Side.
“The traffic can be a deal killer,” said Missy Stagers of D'Ann Harper Coldwell Banker Realtors.
There were 1,791 pending sales at the end of December along the U.S. 281 corridor north of Loop 1604, making it one of the most active market areas in the region.
But median prices are flat since last year, hovering around $281,000.
And the average time a home spends on the market — 102 days — is 9 percent longer than the average for San Antonio and 24 percent longer than it was a year ago in the area.
At a recent San Antonio Board of Realtors event, Bob Gardner, CEO of Legacy Mutual Mortgage, got raucous applause when he said that something — anything — needs to be done to relieve congestion.
He and others in the real estate community don't seem to care whether that solution is toll roads or public roads, as long as there's a fix.
Many neighborhoods north of Loop 1604 are watching homes sell at a much slower pace than elsewhere in the city, he said.
“If we don't do something, it's going to kill property values up 281,” Gardner said. “Property values create taxes.”
Despite the traffic grind, the area remains among the most popular for house hunters, thanks in large part to the North East Independent School District's reputation.
Some buyers have been pushing even farther north into Comal Independent School District to get into its popular Smithson Valley schools.
Richard Zepeda of Keller Williams Heritage said some families who moved outside Loop 1604 now are moving back.
“I'm seeing people who bought their dream property a few years ago who are saying, ‘I can't take this anymore.' They are spending less time with kids. Their quality of life is getting hampered big time,” Zepeda said. “I don't know what he solution is. But people need to holler to whoever is in charge.”
The ease in gas prices hasn't helped the far North Side real estate market much.
“Now gas is less expensive, but it's your time that's valuable,” said David Marne of Half Priced Real Estate. “If you're at the wrong place at the wrong time, traffic is miserable.”
The most sought-after homes now are located inside Loop 1604 or in neighborhoods near 1604 with good highway access.
“I wouldn't put the boundary at 1604, but you need to be able to smell it,” Marne said.
Custom builder Jack Morris blames the traffic for the multiple months his energy efficient spec home sat on the market in River Crossing, north of Texas 46. Eventually, he rented the home to a family.
“I have always maintained that the real estate market farther out on 281 was adversely affected by the traffic congestion, especially the continual bottleneck at 281 and Evans,” Morris said.
Becki Rinner, a resident of the Timberwood Parkneighborhood for 14 years, said she's weighing good schools against traffic jams.
“I've always felt like it was worth it to be out there,” she said. “Now I'm starting to think I could put my daughter in private school and spend less time on the road.”
Rinner is getting married this year and may move inside Loop 1604 to her fiance's home. She would rent out her Timberwood Park home instead of selling it.
“I can't get top dollar right now,” she said. “But it's still a good rental market.”
But letting go is hard.
“As soon as I get home, it's wonderful. I sit in the backyard and I feel like I'm really far away from town,” Rinner said. “I'm not sure I'm ready to change completely.”
Cibolo Canyons resident Ernest Quinn loves the area, but said rush-hour traffic along Bulverde Road near his home comes to a standstill.
“We try not to travel between 4 and 6” o'clock, said Quinn, who's retired from the Air Force and didn't have to factor commuting into his home buying decision. “If I had to work in this, it would be pretty bad.”
There is some hope that a bit of traffic relief could come from the federal government.
The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority is asking for $214 million worth of stimulus funding to upgrade the often-tedious interchange at U.S. 281 and Loop 1604.
Plans would build eight ramps to link the two freeways, eliminating the need to go through a stoplight.
Adding lanes to both U.S. 281 and Loop 1604, though, could be years away. After the widening of U.S. 281 lost its federal environmental clearance in October, the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority announced it would undertake a new environmental study.
That will take three to 31/2 years, said Leroy Alloway, director of community relations, and there's no guarantee additional lanes would gain clearance after the study is complete.
A similar environmental issue and study timeframe is affecting the widening of Loop 1604, he said.
Until then, the best that can be done is safety improvements.
Ruth Cole of Bradfield Properties said residents need to know the long-term plan for the area's roadways.
“We knew the North Side was going to be inundated with homes,” she said. “It's not doom and gloom, but people do want to know that something is going to happen.”
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