Jennifer’s Market Minute: August 2026

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San Antonio’s Housing Market Is Holding Steady. But What About the Rental Market?

If you were waiting for August to bring a dramatic shift to the San Antonio housing market, the numbers don’t really show one.

Sales ticked up slightly compared with last August, inventory remains around what we would typically consider a more balanced market, and prices haven’t moved dramatically in either direction. At the same time, homes are taking longer to sell, pending sales are down, and even well-prepared listings aren’t necessarily seeing a high volume of showings.

In other words, the market is moving. It just isn’t moving particularly quickly.

This month, though, there’s another set of numbers I think is worth paying attention to: the rental market.

I work with a lot of military families who know they may only be in San Antonio for a few years. Lately, I’ve been having more conversations with buyers about whether the home they’re purchasing today could make sense as a rental after a future PCS. I’ve also had sellers weighing whether selling or renting is the better option.

So, in addition to our usual look at the sales market, let’s take a closer look at what August’s rental numbers can, and can’t, tell us.

THE NUMBERS

Closed Sales: 3,105 homes (+5% year over year)
Active Listings: 16,940 homes (0%)
New Listings: 4,426 homes (-5%)
Pending Sales: 2,575 homes (-8%)
Median Sales Price: $299,275 (-3%)
Average Days on Market: 82 days (+11%)
Housing Inventory: approximately 5.9 months
Average Sale-to-Original-List Price: 92.8%

Compared with a year ago, closed sales increased about 5%, while new listings declined 5% and pending sales declined 8%. Days on market increased 11%.

To me, none of those numbers signal a major change in direction. August looks much more like a continuation of the market we’ve been navigating throughout 2026.

Homes are still selling, but they’re taking longer to sell, and the decline in pending sales suggests buyers are continuing to move cautiously. With just under six months of inventory, neither buyers nor sellers have a clear upper hand across the market as a whole.

The Market Still Changes Depending on Your Price Point

Just as we saw in July, San Antonio’s overall inventory number doesn’t tell the whole story.

In August, single-family inventory ranged from about 5 months below $200,000 to more than 13 months at $1 million and above. The largest portion of August sales occurred between $300,000 and $399,999, where inventory stood at 6.1 months.

Price Range	August Sales	Months of Inventory	Avg. DOM	Close to Original List
$150K–$199K	297	5.0	88	88.7%
$200K–$249K	511	5.1	78	92.3%
$250K–$299K	563	5.5	80	93.8%
$300K–$399K	666	6.1	79	94.6%
$400K–$499K	332	6.2	76	95.8%
$500K–$749K	325	7.0	83	95.1%
$750K–$999K	110	8.3	90	94.9%
$1M+	99	13.4	94	90.4%

The takeaway is similar to last month: there isn’t one San Antonio housing market.

A buyer shopping around $250,000 is navigating a different amount of competition and inventory than someone shopping at $800,000. Sellers should also be careful about relying too heavily on a citywide statistic when deciding how to price and position their home.

What August Means for Buyers

Buyers still have choices, and in many cases they have negotiating room.

I’m continuing to negotiate seller concessions for my buyers, whether those funds are being used toward closing costs or to help reduce the cost of financing. I’m also receiving offers on my listings that include concession requests.

That doesn’t mean every seller will agree to every request, but it does mean buyers shouldn’t automatically assume that the asking price is the only part of an offer worth negotiating.

I’m also seeing buyers approach purchases very carefully.

Some are frustrated with today’s interest rates and have decided to wait. Others have accepted that rates are part of the current market and adjusted their budgets accordingly. I’ve also had buyers walk away when an inspection revealed more than they were comfortable taking on.

Having choices gives buyers the ability to be selective, but I would still caution against waiting for a hypothetical “perfect” market. The better question is whether the home, payment and terms make sense for you right now.

What August Means for Sellers

For sellers, this remains a market where pricing and preparation matter, but neither guarantees a flood of showings.

That’s an important distinction.

I’m seeing well-prepared homes receive fewer showings than sellers might have expected in a faster market. With pending sales down from last year and homes averaging 82 days on market, sellers should prepare for the possibility that finding the right buyer may take some time.

And when that buyer does arrive, the negotiation may involve more than price.

Seller-paid closing costs, interest-rate buydowns and other concessions continue to show up in the offers I’m seeing and writing.

August’s 92.8% close-to-original-list-price figure is useful, but it doesn’t tell you everything about the economics of a transaction. A home can sell relatively close to its asking price while the seller also agrees to contribute toward a buyer’s closing costs or financing.

That’s why I continue to tell sellers that the goal isn’t simply to pick a list price. It’s to build a strategy around the competition you’re facing, your home’s condition, your timeline and the terms buyers are asking for in your particular part of the market.

A Closer Look at San Antonio’s Rental Market

This is the part of August’s report that caught my attention.

San Antonio recorded approximately 1,634 residential leases in August, with an average rent of $1,832 and a median rent of $1,700. A year earlier, the average rent was $1,868 and the median was $1,750.

Meanwhile, active rental inventory remained high at just over 5,000 listings, and rentals averaged 54 days on market.

So while more rental transactions are taking place, rents themselves haven’t been moving upward.

That’s especially relevant for homeowners – and particularly military homeowners – who may be thinking, If we move in a few years, we’ll just rent the house out.

Maybe.

But a home being rentable and a home being profitable as a rental are two different things.

How I Talk About Future Rental Potential With Buyers

I’ve had this conversation with several buyers recently, particularly military families who know another move may only be a few years away.

Once we’ve narrowed their search to a few homes or neighborhoods, I’ll often pull comparable rental properties in those areas. We can then put today’s rents alongside the buyer’s estimated full monthly housing payment, including principal and interest, property taxes and insurance, as well as applicable HOA or other assessments.

It doesn’t tell us what that particular home will rent for three years from now. Nobody can know that.

But it gives us a much better starting point.

If comparable homes are currently renting for $2,000 per month and the buyer’s estimated housing payment is significantly higher than that, that’s something worth discussing before they purchase the home – particularly if keeping it as a rental is already part of their potential exit strategy.

And rent is only one part of that conversation.

Property taxes can vary significantly between neighborhoods, particularly when MUDs, PIDs or other assessments are involved. I also look at what’s happening around a neighborhood. What is already being developed nearby? What could reasonably be built in the future? How might that affect renter appeal, competition and property values?

The goal isn’t to predict exactly what will happen. It’s to understand as many of the variables as we reasonably can before making the purchase.

Today’s Buyers May Eventually Compete With Yesterday’s Owners

There’s another factor I’ve been discussing with buyers that doesn’t show up neatly in the monthly statistics.

Someone buying a pre-owned home in 2026 may eventually be competing for tenants with landlords who purchased or refinanced their homes when mortgage rates were considerably lower.

Those owners can have very different monthly carrying costs.

That doesn’t mean a home purchased today won’t work as a future rental. It does mean I don’t think buyers should assume that rents will simply rise enough over the next three years to make the numbers work.

New construction adds another wrinkle. Builders are still offering financing incentives in some communities, but buyers need to understand exactly what they’re being offered. A permanently bought-down interest rate and a temporary buydown aren’t the same thing, particularly when you’re thinking beyond the first year or two of ownership.

This is why I prefer to look at future rental potential as one factor in choosing a home, rather than a guarantee that a buyer will have an easy fallback option when it’s time to move.

What I’m Seeing Locally

August felt remarkably consistent with what the numbers are telling us.

I’m working with buyers who are negotiating concessions and carefully evaluating their monthly payments. Some are adjusting their budgets to today’s interest rates. Others are deciding they aren’t ready to buy yet.

On the listing side, I’m seeing fewer showings even on homes that are well prepared for the market. And an interested buyer isn’t necessarily a committed buyer. I recently had a listing receive an offer relatively quickly, only for the buyer to decide before we went under contract that they wanted to put buying on hold until next year for personal reasons.

None of that means the market isn’t functioning.

It means people are making decisions more carefully.

And increasingly, I’m seeing buyers think beyond the purchase itself. They’re asking what happens in two or three years, what their options might be if military orders send them somewhere else, and whether the home they’re considering today gives them enough flexibility for whatever comes next.

Those are good questions to be asking.

My Take

August didn’t give us a dramatic market shift, and I don’t think we need one to learn something useful from the numbers.

San Antonio continues to look relatively balanced overall. Homes are selling, buyers have options, sellers are negotiating, and neither side has complete control of the transaction.

But affordability is influencing decisions at almost every stage.

It’s influencing the price range buyers choose, the concessions they request, the homes they’re willing to take on and, increasingly, the way they think about their eventual exit strategy.

For military families in particular, buying a home isn’t always a ten-year decision. Sometimes we’re buying knowing there’s a very real possibility that orders will come three years from now.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy.

It means the conversation should include more than “Can I afford this house today?”

It may also be worth asking:

“What options could this house give me when it’s time to move again?”

That’s a question I’d much rather explore before you buy than three years later when the moving truck is already on its way.

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Thinking about buying, selling, or trying to decide whether keeping your San Antonio home as a rental makes sense? Every situation is different, and the citywide numbers are only a starting point. I’m happy to help you look at the numbers for your particular home, neighborhood and plans.

Jennifer Anderson is a San Antonio Realtor providing local market insights with a focus on far west side neighborhoods and the needs of military and relocating families. She helps clients interpret market data in practical terms so they can make confident buying and selling decisions.