My San Antonio reports that speculators are buying into that city. " Some real estate agents say out-of-state investors, mostly from California, Arizona and Florida, now account for half their clients, while traditional families were their bread and butter up until the beginning of the year. For real estate agent Tina Ross, investors have accounted for 100 percent of her clients since January."

"'If they're seasoned investors, they're quick,' said Ross. 'There's no emotion involved. They fly in. We go look. They make offers and they're gone.'"

"Kayvan Kazemeinejad from West Sacramento, Calif., recently sold a California home and saw San Antonio as an undervalued market. Kazemeinejad couldn't remember the subdivision he just bought a house in (Whisper Hollow) and had to look up the street name (Oak Briar). He has only seen the home once. But he loves it."

"'I wish I could move it to California and live in it myself,' said Kazemeinejad, who also wants a four-plex and another single-family home."

"San Antonio's 'hot market' hype might make some prospective home buyers feel pressure to hurry up before they get priced out of the market. Randall Allsup, manager for a real estate research firm, said the bottom line for buyers is this: Move quickly. 'If you find a house today, you'd better make an offer on it or it won't be there,' he said."

"Realtors and home sellers may welcome the added sales from investors, but not everyone in San Antonio is thrilled by the attention. Builders fear neighborhoods full of renters or a slew of investor-owned resales that might compete with their own businesses as they complete subdivisions over the next few years."

"To prevent such scenarios, builders have instituted caps on what they'll sell to investors, rules to limit the amount of rental property allowed in a subdivision, and even contracts requiring owner occupancy."

"'People are saying they want to buy five or 10 houses for rentals,' said Rick Kuper. 'They're eating up the inventory.' Since October, (realtor) Aneeta Bhalla has closed 100 sales to out-of-state investors who have sold homes and must reinvest quickly to avoid capital gains taxes."

"'Sometimes I go and tell my husband, 'We should be doing this and buying rental homes,' Bhalla said. 'It makes you feel like you're going to miss the boat.'"

"Not to worry, says James Gaines, economist with Texas A&M. As long as the builders keep producing new homes it will put a constraint on how high prices can go, Gaines said. 'People shouldn't worry about price spikes,' he said."