San Antonio experienced a significant decline in new home listings in December, marking the largest year-over-year drop among the nation’s 50 biggest housing markets. According to Redfin data, the metro area saw 2,120 new residential listings last month, down about 20 percent from a year earlier. This follows another weak performance in November, when San Antonio had a 17.8 percent decrease in new listings.
Nationally, new home listings decreased by only 4.9 percent over the same period, indicating that San Antonio sellers are pulling back more sharply than those in other major cities.
The city is facing one of the most unbalanced housing markets in the country. As of December, there were 102.5 percent more sellers than buyers in San Antonio—the fifth-largest gap among major U.S. metros. Many potential buyers are choosing to rent instead of buying homes due to current mortgage rates.
“The rental market is quite appealing right now,” said Redfin economist Daryl Fairweather. She noted that stable rents and persistent borrowing costs are making it difficult for many buyers to enter the market despite slight declines in rates. Fairweather also pointed out that San Antonio’s large veteran population often relies on low down payment loans and is especially affected by rate increases.
Other Texas cities are experiencing similar trends. Austin reported the largest seller-buyer imbalance nationwide with 128 percent more sellers than buyers and an 11.4 percent drop in new listings for December. Dallas also showed a significant imbalance with 86.8 percent more sellers than buyers—a situation partly attributed to years of strong homebuilding activity.
These imbalances have led to longer selling times for homes across Texas metros. In San Antonio, homes spent a median of 99 days on the market in December—an increase of 17 days compared to last year and the second-largest jump among major metros after Houston. In Austin, homes stayed on the market even longer at a median of 106 days.
Sales volumes have also been affected by these conditions. In November, closed sales in San Antonio dropped nearly 25 percent year-over-year—from 2,683 closings in November 2024 to just over 2,000 closings this past November.
High mortgage rates continue to discourage both buyers and sellers from entering the market or moving forward with transactions. More than half of U.S. mortgage holders currently have rates at or below four percent; meanwhile, average rates for a standard thirty-year loan hovered around six percent at the end of January.
Despite these challenges, there was a slight increase in pending sales during December as they rose by just over one percent compared to last year.
