San Antonio has distinguished itself as the only major housing market in Texas to experience year-over-year growth in new home construction, according to data from consulting firm Zonda Advisory.
Over the past 12 months, the San Antonio metropolitan area saw 18,200 single-family housing starts, representing a 1 percent increase compared to the previous year, as reported by the San Antonio Business Journal. In contrast, Austin’s housing starts dropped nearly 15 percent in 2025 to 14,620. This marks a sharp 40 percent decrease from Austin’s activity in 2022 and coincides with declines in both home values and mortgage transactions.
Combined, the San Antonio and Austin metro areas accounted for about 32,800 new housing starts over the last year. This output ranks their region as the third-largest homebuilding market nationally, behind Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.
Bryan Glasshagel of Zonda Advisory highlighted this trend: “Should Austin continue to pull back, San Antonio is going to be the volume leader in the state,” he said. He also noted that San Antonio now holds sixth place among U.S. markets for new construction and remains one of few large metros still seeing expansion.
Most of San Antonio’s growth is occurring outside city limits and beyond Loop 1604, especially in suburbs such as Converse, Elmendorf, Castroville and Adkins. The majority of development is taking place in southern and eastern parts of the metropolitan area.
Data from the San Antonio Board of Realtors showed that October home sales declined by 11 percent to 2,639 properties. Despite this slowdown in sales volume, median prices remained stable at $305,000 while inventory stood at just over six months—a level local brokers describe as balanced.
“While sales have slowed, steady pricing and strong inventory levels give both buyers and sellers more flexibility,” Sabor Chairman Ed Zapata said.
This current situation reverses trends seen in 2022 when Austin outpaced San Antonio significantly in homebuilding activity.
