With 2022 shaping into a record year for apartment construction in DFW, many construction companies are ramping up production to meet sky-high demand.
To date, 56,000 apartments are under construction across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including 15,000 additional units over last year, according to the latest measure by RealPage, per The Dallas Morning News.
Nationally, more apartments are slated to be built in 2022 than in any single year since at least the 1980s, with more than 426,000 apartments under construction.
With the cost of home ownership exceeding the reach of many North Texas residents, apartment leasing has become the next best option for many.
Five cities in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area were among the top in the country for the planned construction of apartments from 2020 to 2021, as reported by the Dallas Culture Map. According to a ranking by Lattice Publishing, the five cities were Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Lewisville, and Irving.
Net apartment leasing in DFW for the year ending in June totaled 30,779 units, while just 23,090 new units were added to the supply throughout the previous year.
However, at the end of the second quarter, fewer than 4% of DFW apartments were vacant, with the cost of rent rising 17.4% year-over-year. Average North Texas apartment rent hit a record $1,488 to $1,526 in the Dallas area and $1,374 in Fort Worth, RealPage estimated, per the DMN.
“Rents will likely continue to grow briskly through 2022,” said Jay Parsons, RealPage’s top economist. “Particularly as operators look to offset rapid inflationary expense increases in property taxes, payrolls, insurance, utilities, and maintenance.”
Research conducted by Hoyt Advisory Services shows that through 2030, the U.S. would need to build an average of 328,000 apartments annually to keep pace with housing demand. That mark has been achieved just five times since 1989, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association.
