Austin makes national top 10 for new apartment numbers

The Austin area is on track to add 8,837 new apartments this year, the 10th highest number of expected deliveries for U.S. cities in the annual cycle. According to national apartment-search site blog RentCafe, that puts the city’s apartment construction numbers above all but one of the Texas metros in the Top 20—Dallas-Fort Worth, second only to New York—although Texas as whole continues to lead the country in that arena, with more than 37,000 units in Houston, DFW, Austin, and San Antonio combined slated for delivery in 2018.

A closer look at the numbers reveals that most of the expected new units are in the city of Austin, where almost 5,800 are expected. The rest are in Round Rock (almost 800), Pflugerville (721), Leander (478), and Cedar Park (460).

While many of the cities in the top 10 show quite a large number of units expected, Yardi Matrix market data overall indicates a national slowdown in new apartment construction, according to the blog. The number new deliveries reached an all-time high for last 20 years in 2017 and will see, 2018 will see about 34,900 fewer of those units in 2018.

While apartments should be more plentiful by the end of the year, rent is still on the rise nationally, according to the site, with 2.3% year-over-year increase for the first six months of 2018. The local picture is similar, although several reports show Austin rent rising more slowly this year.

• Apartment Construction Is Expected to Slow Down in 2018 After a Six-Year Upward Streak [RentCafe]