Permit Trends Show Collapse of San Antonio Apartment Pipeline

3 October 2025

Spooky season is in full swing in the Alamo City, where the state of the multifamily market has scared off developers.

San Antonio posted the largest percent decline in new multifamily permits of cities nationwide, according to a HomeAbroad analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The report looked at the period between 2020 and 2025.

The city saw 526 multifamily construction permits filed in 2020, and just 18 filed so far this year, a 96.6 percent decline. The pipeline collapsed even though San Antonio continues is experiencing rapid growth, ranking fourth in the nation in terms of new residents. Nearly 24,000 people moved to San Antonio between 2023 and 2024.

In the last five years, Austin saw a 29 percent drop in new permits (from 1,868 to 1,321) and permits fell 14 percent in Houston (from 1,669 to 1,409). Dallas-Fort Worth bucked the trend, with permits jumping nearly 20 percent (from 4,847 to 5,800).

A rush of apartment construction in Texas over the last few years has resulted in a glut of new product coming online. As a result, occupancy and rent rates have declined in the major Texas metros.

San Antonio ranks second in the country for rental affordability, with renters spending an average of 17 percent of their income on housing, JLL’s Kai Penn said during a Connect CRE conference on the multifamily market in the Lone Star State.

Halfway through the year, average occupancy was 93.2 percent, and average asking rent was $1,237 per month in San Antonio, according to a report from Newmark. The drastic contraction of the multifamily development pipeline will increase these levels.

Even though the pipeline has dried up, San Antonio is still in need of additional housing. The metro is underbuilt by more than 25,000 housing units, according to a 2024 report by the housing advocacy organization Up for Growth.

Dallas-Fort Worth’s housing shortage is nearly five times higher, with the Metroplex still underbuilt by 122,000 units. Houston is short 79,000 units, and Austin is short 24,000 units.