October 2009

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The Austin area multi-family sector continues to perform the best of all the major Texas metro areas on a comparative basis.  Over the month of October, occupancy continued to increase keeping vacancy below 10%, and average rents resumed their upward trend on both per unit and per square foot basis.  Class A properties did the heavy lifting as they carried all other classes, enjoying a 0.81% increase in occupancy and a $2.68 increase in rents per unit for the month.  With that said, challenges still loom for the market as an under-construction supply of approximately 6,000 units remains a significant concern.

Austin apartment market occupancy increased 0.24 points in October to 90.35%, but has fallen 1.94 points since October 2008.  Average rent per square foot has increased $0.002 to $0.983 during the month, but is down $0.009 psf over the past 12 months.  Average rent per unit posted an increase of $1.38 in October; currently at $825.55, rent per unit has declined $3.33 over the past year.  Austin posted a positive absorption of 347 units in October, bringing annual absorption to 2,446 units.

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