HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – The Houston apartment market has rebounded strongly from the pandemic era, registering a 5 percent increase in rents and reaching its highest occupancy rate in two years, according to a Houston-based multifamily consultancy.
Texas’s economic growth has accelerated the recovery, and vacant apartments are being leased quickly. In June, net absorption in the Houston apartment market remained above 5,000 units for the third consecutive month, ApartmentData.com reports.
Houston’s apartment occupancy rate rose to 90.7 percent in June, up from 88.4 percent in June 2020.
This rapid and notable improvement has drawn attention from multifamily professionals and investors.
“Over the past 90 days, interest in Houston multifamily has increased significantly compared with the previous 24 months,” said Chip Nash, senior vice president for Colliers in Houston and director of multifamily investment properties, in a Colliers multifamily report.
“Investors are actively seeking opportunities to deploy capital, and the market has responded with numerous new offerings. Unlike the prior 12 months, investors now have multiple prospects to consider, which has driven higher pricing and pushed capitalization rates lower than they were at the start of 2021.”
“We expect sales volume to keep rising as investors are priced out of buying opportunities in other markets, both nationally and across Texas,” Nash added.
Developers are also active in Houston. ApartmentData.com notes that 59 complexes are currently under construction and will deliver 15,981 new units in the near term. This pipeline follows 86 communities totaling 23,431 units that were added to Houston’s inventory over the past 12 months.
How large is Houston’s apartment inventory? ApartmentData.com reports the Houston area contains 2,942 apartment complexes with approximately 693,000 units in total.
July 6, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
Photo: Courtesy 29th Street Capital
For more on Texas development, see the book Houston 2020: America’s Boom Town – An Extreme Close Up by Ralph Bivins. Available on Amazon.
File: Houston Apartment Market Explodes: Rents Up 5 Percent
File: Chip Nash. Colliers. Houston Apartment Market Explodes: Rents Up 5 Percent. ApartmentData.com