Austin apartment rent prices continue to rise

So far, Austin’s median apartment rents haven’t risen shockingly in 2019—but that observation holds only when you look at month-over-month hikes. Compared to rents at this time last year, the numbers are little more startling: At least some data sites put Austin as high as fourth in their lists of U.S. cities with the highest rent growth in the past year.

How do April’s local numbers compare among rental-data sources? While each differs and has its own sets of limitations, they can give us a sense of what’s happening across the city.

Abodo

Abodo, which bases its numbers on analysis of its listings, shows a marked rise in rents nationally. It reports that the median price for one-bedroom units countrywide has risen from $1,050 to $1,063 in the past month and a total 2.71 percent for the year so far. Two-bedrooms rose from $1,311 to $1,325 median in April, a 4.08 percent year-to-date gain.

.Austin, meanwhile, saw median one-bedroom rents of $1,292 (a 1.04 percent rise) in April, with two-bedrooms at $1,626 (up 0.27 percent).

Apartment List

Apartment List’s numbers track rent growth, median prices, and market trends by city limits, and unlike a lot of listing site data, its numbers are weighted with census data to compensate for a skew toward luxury listings. It still attempts to track what a new renter or apartment-hunter could expect to pay for their pad, though, as opposed to what the typical renter is currently paying.

AL’s April data show Austin rents remaining flat over the month (as has been the case more generally for 2019 so far). As it did in March, the report shows a median one-bedroom price of $1,150, with two-bedrooms at $1,420. The site puts the national average for a two-bedroom apartment at $1,174.

The study does show a marked 3.1% year-over-year increase—putting it in fourth place for fastest rental rate growth among the nation’s large cities, according to AL’s numbers. For comparison, the site’s national rent index grew by just 0.9% over the past year.

Since 2014, rents in Austin have grown by 17.2%, outpacing the national average of 13%, according to the report. In general, the study finds Austin rents more expensive than those in most other other large cities—including Denver, Detroit, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Miami, and Atlanta.

Statewide, it outpaces Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio; only Plano, with a median two-bedroom rent of $3,110, places higher.

In the Austin metro area, however, the study finds slightly higher median rents in Round Rock, Pflugerville, Cedar Park, and Georgetown than those within Austin city limits. Only San Marcos, with median one-bedroom rent of $960, costs less than Austin.

Zumper

Zumper, which can skew toward luxury and uses only its listings when calculating stats, creates a national rent index for 100 cities every month. Austin consistently comes in at around the 32nd-highest rental market in the nation in Zumper’s monthly reports. This month follows suit; the site reported the median April rent for one-bedroom units in Austin increased 0.8 percent, to $1,190, while the price of two-bedroom units decreased 1.3 percent, to $1,470.

In the same period, national one-bedroom rents increased 0.5 percent, to a median of $1,214, while two-bedroom unit prices grew 0.6 percent, to $1,445.

Zumper’s rankings are more conservative than AL’s when it comes to year-over-year rent changes. It shows the one-bedrooms median price at 2.6 percent and two-bedrooms at 1.4 percent higher than they were at this time last year.