A fresh ranking published March 27 says San Antonio’s North Side just logged the biggest five‑year jump in typical home values between 2020 and 2025. The San Antonio Business Journal took a print feature and turned it into a much longer online list, leaning on Zillow home‑value data to sort neighborhoods by percent change. The numbers sketch where equity grew fastest through the pandemic era, but they also arrive with some fine print attached.
How the ranking was created
To build the list, the San Antonio Business Journal averaged the monthly Zillow Home Value Index for 2020 and 2025, then compared the percent change across neighborhoods. That approach zeroes in on shifts in “typical” home values instead of raw sales counts, which makes it handy for long‑run comparisons from one area to another. It is still a ranking built from a secondary dataset rather than a straight, ground‑level tally of closed deals.
What Zillow's data show for the city
Zillow’s Home Value Index (ZHVI) is the engine behind the Business Journal’s numbers. It is intended to estimate the typical mid‑market home value for a given area, a process Zillow breaks down on its research pages. Zillow Research notes that ZHVI is constructed from monthly Zestimates and is tuned for speed and wide coverage rather than a perfect mirror of every single sale. On Zillow’s San Antonio page, the city’s typical home value sits near $247,000 with modest year‑over‑year softening, a reminder that hefty five‑year gains can sit alongside a cooler recent market. Zillow
Where the ranking falls short
The Business Journal notes that its reporters could not independently verify each neighborhood‑level Zillow figure and points out that Zillow’s neighborhood boundaries leave out nearby New Braunfels, which can underestimate Hill Country price pressure. The San Antonio Business Journal also stretched the online list far beyond the 16 neighborhoods that appeared in print, adding dozens more to the digital version. Put together, those blind spots mean the leaderboard is useful for spotting long‑run winners but should not be treated as a flawless map of local demand.
What buyers, sellers and planners should watch
Five‑year percent change is a solid way to see where equity piled up from 2020 through 2025, but it is not a quick in‑and‑out buying signal. Current monthly trends and hyperlocal comparable sales matter far more for near‑term decisions. Buyers still have to weigh affordability, today’s mortgage rates and actual inventory instead of assuming yesterday’s surge will keep running. Sellers in the so‑called hottest pockets may enjoy extra attention, yet realistic pricing to recent comps will be crucial in a market that has softened year‑over‑year.
The Business Journal’s interactive table is the easiest way to scan the full neighborhood‑by‑neighborhood lineup. It is best treated as one lens on the market and paired with sales records, agent insights and live listings before anyone starts drawing hard conclusions.
