In San Antonio, we love to celebrate the diverse mix of local industries that provide jobs, support businesses and generate taxes that local governments need to do their jobs. Some of our city’s biggest economic engines are the military, health care, manufacturing and tourism.

Often overlooked is real estate development and construction. Public policy consulting firm TXP’s recent economic analysis found that the local real estate development industry:

Has a total annual impact of $32.5 billion.

Employs 124,300 people.

Generates $5.9 billion in annual labor income.

Produces $205.5 million in annual local tax revenue.

Accounts for almost 13 percent of San Antonio’s total economic output.

Those are staggering numbers. And they tend to “hide in plain sight” as you drive around the city and see new office buildings, industrial facilities, neighborhoods, streets, apartments and grocery stores. Those are just a few examples of the work the real estate development industry does every day to grow a strong, sustainable and livable San Antonio.

Like San Antonio itself, the real estate development industry is diverse. A wide-ranging roster of players is the heart and soul of it, including construction companies, engineers, property owners, attorneys, title companies, landscapers, architects, bankers, electricians, real estate agents, carpenters, air-conditioning technicians, plumbers and many more. It takes a lot of people and a varied set of skills to grow a great city.

The nearly 125,000 people in and near San Antonio who do all those jobs make good incomes — more than $47,000 a year on average. They buy cars, go out to eat, buy school supplies for their kids and pump their income back into the local economy in countless ways.

So what? Why should anyone care?

Look at it this way: Every day that those who are employed by the industry go to work, others go to work to create new rules and add new costs for real estate development. New rules for impervious cover. New fees for water. New regulations for parking lot paving. New limits on lighting. It never stops.

Guess where those added costs end up — on the bottom-line cost of a new home, apartment rental rates, retail store products and on and on.

The San Antonio Board of Realtors reported that the average price of a local home topped $247,000 in July. The median price reached $212,500 that month. A little more than a year ago, in April 2015, the median price was just $189,300.

San Antonio is still a more affordable place to live than many thriving cities, but our reputation for affordable housing is slipping.

The rising cost of housing in San Antonio didn’t “just happen.” Years and years of relentless effort to rein in development by some in city government and others in advocacy groups have taken their toll in the form of layer upon layer of costly regulation. That toll becomes a key ingredient baked into housing costs, spiraling rents and even the cost of starting a small business.

The urge to regulate and assess ever higher fees also costs jobs. The higher cost of doing business directly reduces a business manager’s desire to hire someone; that money gets plowed into regulatory costs rather than a paycheck.

The lessons here are simple: First, the real estate industry understands the necessity of reasonable regulation and fees.

Second, new rules, regulations and fees have consequences. Often unintended consequences. Those who make policy and establish the rules and costs must recognize that they directly impact consumers even if that is not their intent.

Finally, an industry supporting almost 125,000 jobs and generating nearly 13 percent of the city’s economy must have a seat at the table when new rules and added costs of development are being considered. That’s just good, common sense.

Scott Farrimond is chairman of the Responsible Growth Alliance.