Reports: Austin-Round Rock 15th in US for apartment vacancies; 66% of home listings ‘stale’
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin-Round Rock Metro area is 15th in the nation for vacant apartments, according to a report from construction industry blog Construction Coverage.
The report states that 9% of apartments in the Austin metro are vacant. This is up since 2023, when 7.3% of apartments were vacant.
“While many factors contribute to the local vacancy rate…one major factor affecting the Austin rental market is the recent influx of new multifamily unit construction,” said Jonathan Jones of Construction Coverage. “Austin led the country in new build deliveries in 2023, and the rapid influx of supply may have outpaced demand.”
The Austin Apartment Association told KXAN that it expects the city to see 26,000 more units become available by the end of 2024.
“As more supply comes online, occupancy levels decline – and Austin is no exception, with industry data showing occupancy levels falling as more apartment units were delivered last year and in 2024,” the association said in an email. “While occupancy levels at properties are impacted by a variety of factors, including the area’s business environment, generally we see that when jurisdictions prioritize housing, renters have greater choice and affordability”
All of Texas (9.2%, fifth highest for U.S. states) and Houston’s metro (10.9%) both have vacancy rates above the Austin metro, but San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth areas are slightly under (around 8%).
The report’s author describes a low vacancy rate as having the potential to push rents down due to greater supply. Zillow and Rent. both claim that the Austin metro has seen a slight decrease year-over-year in median monthly rents, compared to 2023.
However, median rent in Austin and the rest of the country remain above pre-pandemic levels despite the rising vacancy rate. The share of cost-burdened renters in Austin also stayed roughly the same as in 2023 at around 48%, according to the report, which is below the national average.
But the below-average share of cost-burdened renters is likely due to an influx of higher income workers.
“Typically, rapid increases in median rent tend to be accompanied by an increase in the percentage of renters that are cost-burdened. However, the Austin metro area has experienced sizable household income growth in recent years, which has helped keep its renter cost-burden rate below the national average,” Jones said.
High prices causes listings stall
Another report, this one from real estate company Redfin, shows that 66% of the metro’s house sale listings are “stale,” meaning that the listings were on unsold after 30 days.
This is stable from last year’s percentage, with an increase of just a half of a percentage point. It is above the U.S. market average of 61.9%, but is below the national year-over-year change.
Much of this is due to higher mortgage rates compared to 2022 and Texas’ “rapid construction” creating a large supply of homes, according to the report.
Another factor, likely felt by many hopeful homebuyers, is that wages are insufficient to consider buying a home in the city. A recent study from First American Financial Corp. shows Austin residents’ buying power is below the median sale price for local house listings, KXAN previously reported.
Dallas’ metro saw the largest year-over-year increase in stale listings (7.5 points), but is still under Austin’s metro (60.5%). The Houston metro matched Austin’s year-over-year change, but its share (64.4%) was still less than Austin’s share.
San Antonio was the only Texas metro to grow faster than and surpass Austin’s share (68.4%).