Net apartment leasing in the Dallas area during the last six months has hit the highest volume in almost two decades.
More than 16,500 apartments were leased during the second and third quarters — the greatest rental demand of any major metro area in the country, according to RealPage.
The Richardson-based apartment industry service firm said that more than 280,000 apartment units were net leased nationwide during the prime rental season between April and September. That was the second-highest leasing volume ever recorded for the period and the largest total since 1997.
Dallas leasing volume for the key spring and summer apartment market was the highest it’s been since 2001, according to RealPage.
“Continued robust job growth is providing the underlying support fueling strong demand for housing in North Texas,” said RealPage chief economist Greg Willett. “It also helps that local wage increases are a little stronger than typical rent bumps right now.
“Thus, even with prices rising, apartment rent now commands a little smaller share of the typical renter’s overall paycheck in Dallas-Fort Worth.”
RealPage estimates that D-FW apartment rents have risen about 3% so far in 2019 compared with the same period last year.
Along with the robust Dallas-area apartment demand, net leasing in the Fort Worth area added up to about 3,600 units during the second and third quarters — more than double the average leasing totals for that area.
After Dallas, the strongest apartment leasing numbers were in the Houston area (14,783 units) and Seattle (6,695 units), according to RealPage.
At the end of the third quarter, almost 44,000 apartments were under construction in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the most of any U.S. market.
