Construction in San Antonio continues to grow. Jack Inselmann, new housing analyst with
MetroStudy, noted that 2005 was another record year. The 16,340 houses built in 2005
blew the top off the previous year with a staggering 27 percent increase. However, the boom has
not yet driven prices past the average buyer, another sign of its sustainability.
Half of all production is in the $100,000-to-$150,000 price range. The Texas Real Estate Center estimates the  median price for a house in San Antonio at $135,000. The center estimates the area median income is 61 percent above what is needed to qualify for a median-priced house with a conventional loan. Also, the NSA has announced last April plans to establish a campus on the Far West Side of San Antonio with an estimated 1,500 new employees. Now, the campus in San  Antonio eventually could accommodate 5,200 employees, expanding from its current 2,200. The NSA is spending $100 million to improve the old Sony plant at West Military Drive and Loop 410 and short term plans are to employ more than 3000 by the end of this year. Ramiro Cavazos, the city's economic development director, said the NSA will be hiring or relocating up to 3,000 new employees on top of the ones it has here. Last year, the NSA began an aggressive national recruiting campaign, with the goal of hiring about 1,500 new employees a year through 2008.
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