Should You Buy Before Summer PCS Season Hits San Antonio?

by Christopher Beal

Last Updated: November 8, 2026 | By Christopher Beal, U.S. Army Veteran & Realtor

Christopher Beal holding a calendar page in front of a stone and brick single-story home in the San Antonio area (AI-generated illustration)

Short answer (checked November 8, 2026): If your orders give you a choice, the months that usually give a buyer near JBSA the most time to negotiate are fall and winter, not summer PCS season. In the Randolph-side ZIPs 78108 and 78154, homes that closed in January through March 2026 had spent a median of 97 to 107 days on the market, against 50 days for homes that closed in May and June (SABOR MLS, every single-family closing in both ZIPs, November 2025 to October 2026). Prices did not follow the calendar the same way: monthly median close prices ranged from $338,200 to $381,000 with no consistent summer premium. Your report date, today's mortgage rate (Freddie Mac's 30-year average was 7.18% on November 5, 2026) and the specific home matter more than the month, and these figures cover two ZIP codes, not the whole metro.

I am Christopher Beal, a U.S. Army veteran, REALTOR (TREC #723559) and Owner of Veteran Real Estate San Antonio, brokered by eXp Realty. More about me.

Update note, November 8, 2026: rewritten around a month-by-month table of actual SABOR MLS closings from November 2025 through October 2026, with a fall and winter buying section and a rate-versus-season comparison. Early-2026 forecasts, builder incentive figures, unsourced percentages and outdated rate quotes from the March 2026 version were removed.

Month by Month: What Actually Sold Near Randolph Over the Last 12 Months

Summer was the busiest and fastest season, and winter was the slowest, but the median price moved within a narrow band all year. I pulled every closed single-family sale in ZIP codes 78108 (Cibolo) and 78154 (Schertz) from SABOR MLS on November 8, 2026. These two ZIPs sit next to JBSA-Randolph and carry a heavy share of military buyers, which makes them a useful view of how PCS season moves a base-adjacent market.

Month closed	Homes closed	Median close price	Median days on market
November 2025	77	$375,000	72
December 2025	113	$381,000	75
January 2026	78	$354,500	97
February 2026	81	$349,900	107
March 2026	147	$354,000	100
April 2026	136	$339,990	72.5
May 2026	146	$357,500	50
June 2026	169	$372,500	50
July 2026	142	$338,200	61.5
August 2026	121	$349,990	61
September 2026	102	$357,493	72.5
October 2026	86	$341,400	54

Source: SABOR MLS (LERA), pulled November 8, 2026. Status sold, property type RE (single-family residential), ZIP codes 78108 and 78154 combined, grouped by calendar month of close date, November 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026. Every closed sale in each month is included (1,398 closings in total); medians are of individual sales, and a half value is the average of the two middle sales. Days on market is the MLS DaysOnMarket field. Both new construction and resale are included, so a month with more new-build closings can shift the median price. ZIP codes do not follow city limits exactly.

How to read it: a closing usually lands several weeks after the contract was signed, so the homes that closed in June mostly went under contract in April and May. The days-on-market column is the clearest seasonal signal. Homes that closed in late winter had been listed for three months or more, which is the kind of listing where a seller is more open to repairs, a closing-cost credit or a price adjustment. By late spring the typical home sold in about seven weeks. The price column is the one people expect to jump in summer, and over this 12-month window it did not: June's median was above the year's middle, July's was the lowest of the year. A home's own condition, size and age moved its price far more than the month did.

Why Summer PCS Season Changes the Calendar Near JBSA

Many military moves are timed for summer, so more buyers with fixed report dates are shopping at once near the installations. Families often try to move between school years, and a report date does not move to suit the market. That concentration shows up in the table: closings in the two Randolph-side ZIPs rose from 78 in January to 169 in June, and homes sold about twice as fast as in late winter.

For a buyer, the practical effects of a busy season are less time to decide, more homes going under contract before you can tour them, and less room to ask a seller for repairs or credits on the most popular listings. None of that makes summer a bad time to buy. It means you need your pre-approval, your search criteria and your offer terms ready before you start touring, especially if you are buying from your current duty station. My PCS report-date timeline works backward from a fixed date.

Buying in Fall and Winter: Where the Leverage Comes From

Longer days on market are the source of off-season leverage: a seller whose home has sat for months has more reason to negotiate on repairs, credits and terms. If your orders allow a fall or winter purchase, these are the levers worth using:

Seller-paid costs. VA allows a seller to pay a buyer's closing costs, and separately limits seller concessions to no more than 4% of the home's reasonable value (VA defines concessions as anything of value added at no cost to the buyer, such as paying the VA funding fee or paying off a buyer's debts). Ask your lender how a specific credit will be classified before you write the offer.
Repairs before the appraisal. A VA appraisal checks the home against VA minimum property requirements for safety and condition. On a listing that has sat, a seller is often more willing to fix inspection items before the appraisal is ordered than in a busy month.
Price on stale listings. Look at days on market and price history for each home. A listing that has been reduced or relisted tells you more about room to negotiate than the month does.
Scheduling. Around the holidays, lenders, title companies, inspectors and appraisers can be harder to schedule. Build extra days into the contract dates rather than assuming a slower market means a faster closing.

If you are also selling a home before a PCS, my guide to the best time to sell in San Antonio by month looks at the same calendar from the seller's side, and my guide to selling during a PCS covers selling remotely.

Rates vs. Season: When Waiting for a Better Month Costs More

A change in your interest rate usually moves the monthly payment more than a seasonal swing in price does. Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.18% on November 5, 2026, up from 6.22% a year earlier. VA rates are set by each lender and vary with the borrower, so treat the survey as a market reference, not your quote.

Illustrative scenario, 30-year fixed	Loan amount	Rate	Principal and interest per month
Baseline	$350,000	7.18%	$2,371
Price 3% lower, same rate	$339,500	7.18%	$2,300
Price 3% higher, same rate	$360,500	7.18%	$2,442
Same price, rate 0.5 point lower	$350,000	6.68%	$2,254
Same price, rate 0.5 point higher	$350,000	7.68%	$2,491

Illustrative math only, not a loan quote: standard amortization of the loan amount shown over 360 months. Excludes taxes, insurance, HOA dues and the VA funding fee. The baseline rate is the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey 30-year average for the week of November 5, 2026; the price changes are hypothetical.

On these numbers, a 3% price difference moves the payment by about $71 a month, and a half-point rate difference moves it by about $117 to $120. That is why I do not tell anyone to wait for a particular month. If the home fits, the payment works and your orders are firm, the season is a secondary question. If you are deciding whether to buy at all this cycle, my buy now or wait framework lays out the inputs, and the San Antonio market update covers the wider metro. I am a REALTOR, not a financial advisor; compare written loan estimates from more than one lender.

When Timing the Season Should Not Drive the Decision

Your orders, your time at the duty station and your cash reserves decide whether to buy; the calendar only affects how you negotiate. Find your situation below:

Your situation	What to weigh
Orders not in hand yet	Get pre-approved and research areas now; think carefully before signing a purchase contract, because earnest money and option terms depend on the contract, not on your orders.
Short expected time in San Antonio	Compare the cost to buy and later sell or rent out against renting for the same period; transaction costs need time to recover.
Thin cash reserves	A VA loan can mean no down payment, but taxes, insurance, repairs and moving costs still need cash. Price those first.
Credit still being repaired	VA sets no minimum credit score; lenders set their own. A few months of credit work can change your rate more than the season changes the price.
Firm summer report date	Buy when your timeline needs you to; prepare earlier so you can move quickly in a busy month.

Two rules apply whatever the month. Texas has required a written buyer representation agreement before an agent shows you a home (or presents an offer when nothing is shown) since January 1, 2026, and that agreement must say that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. And if you have a VA disability rating, you may be exempt from the VA funding fee, which is otherwise 2.15% of the loan on a first-use purchase with less than 5% down; confirm your status with your lender before you sign.

If Your Report Date Is Fixed

Work backward from the report date and start with a full pre-approval, not the calendar. My VA loan pre-approval guide covers the first step, the 2026 JBSA BAH guide shows what your housing allowance covers, and if you are leaning toward a new build, my guide to VA loans and new construction explains how builder contracts and appraisals differ. For a Randolph assignment, the Cibolo, Schertz and Universal City comparison uses the same two ZIPs as the table above.

Want to know what is actually listed, and how long it has been sitting, in the areas on your list? Call me at (210) 882-8583 and I will pull days on market and price history for your target ZIPs, or start with my military relocation help.

About the Author: Christopher Beal

Christopher Beal is a U.S. Army veteran and the Owner of Veteran Real Estate San Antonio, a Beal Group practice brokered by eXp Realty (TREC License #723559). A Military Relocation Professional (MRP) and VAREP member, he is a 7-time eXp Realty ICON agent, winner of Best Real Estate Agency in the 2026 Best of San Antonio Readers' Choice (San Antonio Current, 100,000+ voters), and a 3x San Antonio Business Journal Top 25 Individual Agent (#13 in 2024, #14 in 2025, #20 in 2026). His recognition also includes 3x Platinum Top 50, 2x RateMyAgent Agent of the Year, 2x Real Producers Top 100, Five Star Professional (2026), and a RealTrends 2026 ranking. He has helped 325+ families, closed more than $125M in career volume, and holds 5.0 stars across 370+ verified reviews, working almost exclusively with military and veteran buyers and sellers across Bexar, Comal, Kendall, Medina, and Bandera counties, with a focus on VA loans, PCS moves, and homebuying near JBSA-Lackland, JBSA-Randolph, and Fort Sam Houston. He tracks days on market and price history for military buyers deciding when to make their move. He can be reached at (210) 882-8583.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best time of year to buy a home near JBSA?

If your orders allow it, fall and winter usually give a buyer more time to negotiate. In ZIPs 78108 and 78154, homes that closed in January through March 2026 had a median of 97 to 107 days on market, against 50 days for May and June closings (SABOR MLS, all single-family closings). Median prices did not show a consistent summer premium over that period, so your rate and the specific home matter more than the month.

Are home prices higher during summer PCS season in San Antonio?

Not consistently in the most recent 12 months near Randolph. Monthly median close prices in 78108 and 78154 ranged from $338,200 to $381,000 between November 2025 and October 2026; June was above the middle of that range and July was the lowest month. What summer did change was speed: more closings and fewer days on market.

Should I wait for lower mortgage rates or buy now?

It depends on your orders, your time in San Antonio and your budget. As an illustration, on a $350,000 30-year loan a half-point rate change from 7.18% moves principal and interest by about $117 to $120 a month, while a 3% price change at 7.18% moves it by about $71. Compare written loan estimates and decide on the payment, not on a forecast.

How much can a seller pay toward my VA closing costs?

VA allows sellers to pay a buyer's closing costs and limits seller concessions, such as paying the VA funding fee or a buyer's debts, to no more than 4% of the home's reasonable value. Ask your lender how each credit in your offer will be classified.

Is there a VA loan limit if I have full entitlement?

No. VA does not set a loan limit for a borrower with full entitlement, but your lender still has to approve the loan amount and the appraisal has to support the price.

Do I need a buyer agreement before touring homes in Texas?

Yes. Since January 1, 2026, Texas requires a written buyer representation agreement before an agent shows you a property, and the agreement must state that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable.