The Economic Development Department of the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce just released its Quarterly Economic Review. It reveals a lot about San Angelo’s affordable housing crisis.
The report is not a detailed quarterly review of all data tracked. It is primarily a summary snapshot of the economy taken every three months.
Like a balance sheet, it gives the Chamber, City and Business officials a snapshot in time to compare with the previous year.
Increased Housing Starts Have Not Impacted Affordability
The report details that housing starts in San Angelo have “effectively doubled over the last year.”
In 3Q2025 the Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate for new construction averaged 437.3 starts, which constitutes a 110.7-percent increase from the previous year’s Q3 average of 207.5.
According to market economics, an increase in the housing supply should lead to lower prices, but there does not seem to be any correlation in San Angelo so far.
Average home prices increased by 4.5 percent in the same quarter versus 2024, but average weekly wages dropped 8.9 percent from 2024. The average cost for a home, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, is between $290,000 and $300,000, while average weekly earnings are less than $900 per week.
While the boom in increased housing starts could reflect a response to low inventory, we do not have the actual numbers for the fourth quarter of 2025 to gauge the impact. The best information available indicates housing starts began dropping off in October. The forecasts for 2026 is that the number of housing starts will continue to decline.
San Angelo’s housing affordability index dipped slightly, by 1.06 percent, at the start of the third quarter of 2025, but the report indicates September’s affordability index rose by 2.64 percent over the previous year. (A rise in the affordability index means housing has become more affordable by that percentage.) Mortgage rates for September 2025 were 6.35%, slightly down from 6.95 percent in January.
Unemployment Remains Low
The labor market in San Angelo remains tight. The size of San Angelo’s labor force rose slightly by .6% over 3Q 2024 from 62,540 workers to 62,893. Unemployment remains low despite a 6.2% increase over 3Q 2024. September 2024 had an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, which increased to 3.4 percent in September 2025.
The unemployment rate is not a true reflection of unemployment as it only tracks the increase or decrease in unemployment benefit applicants. It does not reflect unemployed persons who have not applied for unemployment benefits.
Job openings decreased by 14.1 percent in 3Q 2025 over 2023. While wages are climbing in the rest of the state, wages in San Angelo’s wages are falling. Fewer job openings is not necessarily an indication of fewer jobs. It could mean vacancies are being filled quickly.
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