Texas Market Reports

Multifamily developers across the country know that these are unprecedented and uncertain times for nearly everyone due to COVID-19. Houstonians making up our workforce, which many consider “the essential class,” include professionals like teachers, police officers, nurses and firefighters who invest in other peoples’ betterment every day. These are the people who are working day in and day out to provide us with various fundamental needs during this time of mandated quarantine. Many of these individuals are tenants of workforce housing properties, and to the relief of developers, are most essential to the world right now. However, not all jobs can be kept, and with over 3 million people in the United States having lost their jobs in just a week’s time, necessary processes and procedures about how to work with residents who might be in a financial bind due to COVID-19 have become a requirement. In early March, developers including our firm began to work with both the National Apartment Association and the Houston Apartment Association for recommended guidelines to effectively help our tenants who need it most. Additionally, several landlords came together to better understand what other complexes are doing on the ground to best serve our residents. …

The U.S. economy’s continued expansion, combined with the migration of people from high-tax states in the Northeast and California, bodes well for multifamily real estate investment in metros across the Southeast and Texas. Many cities in the so-called “Sun Belt” will continue to experience strong demand for apartments thanks to the low cost of living and new jobs stemming from corporate investment across the region. The Fort Worth market has been a beneficiary of all of these dynamics, and there are a plethora of compelling reasons why multifamily investors are eager to invest in the Panther City. Population Boom Fort Worth’s population has seen considerable expansion over the past decade, serving as a catalyst for Texas to become a leader in this key fundamental. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that from 2010 to 2018, Texas led the nation in population growth with over 3.5 million new residents, 1 million of which moved to the DFW area between 2010 and 2019. Just this past year alone, Texas continued to be a national leader in population growth, with Tarrant County coming in at No. 3 for total new out-of-state residents, according to the Texas Association of Realtors®. In terms of how this …

Multifamily developers in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex in 2020 expect to see a slightly slower pace of rent growth brought on by record levels of new supply in recent years. This trend, paired with higher costs of adding features that distinguish properties from their competition, could lead to slightly more modest profit margins for multifamily developers. According to the latest data from CoStar Group, the average rate of multifamily rent growth in DFW between 2015 and 2019 was roughly 3.5 percent, skewed in part by a massive annual gain of 6.1 percent in 2015 and 3.9 percent in 2016. The citywide vacancy rate compressed below 7 percent in those two years, leading to an even more pronounced building boom. Since then, annual rent growth has maintained the current projection of 2 to 3 percent, with gains in the Class B space outpacing those of Class A product, a classification that captures virtually all new construction outside of purpose-built affordable housing. During the five-year period ending in 2019, nearly 110,000 new units were delivered in DFW, with annual supply growth as a percentage of total inventory topping 10 percent in some years. The new year purports to be the first …

With its unique culture, relatively low cost of living, warm weather and booming economy, Austin has emerged as one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. As more people and companies flock to this vibrant city, the multifamily real estate market looks primed for growth from both a development and investment perspective. At its core, this real estate potential lies in the fact that the housing supply needs to keep up with a growing population of workers. According to the Austin Board of Realtors (AboR), in October 2019, the number of homes sold reached new highs, while the inventory of single-family homes reached new lows. As this gap shows, and as ABoR notes in its report, housing demand is outpacing housing stock, particularly in areas close to major employers and transit options. To remedy this problem, multifamily developers and investors can step in to build multi-unit buildings throughout Austin. Adding multifamily buildings can help tackle the housing shortage much faster than building more single-family homes, and many newcomers to Austin are young, well-paid professionals looking to rent apartments in exciting urban neighborhoods. As such, developers and investors can look to add more units in both existing high-density areas that …