Dallas-Fort Worth apartment demand has seen an uptick in 2024, following a stretch of falling rental rates leading into the year.
During the first quarter of 2024, apartment dwellers occupied 4,960 units. Excluding the outlier year of 2021 — when a rush of previously restrained demand flooded the market — the first quarter of 2024 represents the busiest Q1 since 2019.
According to CoStar Analytics, the metroplex recorded a 0.2% month-over-month rent increase between March and April, the fourth straight month of gains. These gains coincided with the recovering demand.
Before that period, rents had not risen in DFW since June 2023.
Annually, rent growth in DFW remains negative, down 1.4%, largely unchanged during the beginning of the year. Demand, on the other hand, is trending upward.
Spring tends to pick up the property market. So far, renters have filled over 4,000 units in the second quarter. The results mean the metroplex is now second to New York in multifamily demand ranking.
“As we continue through the end of [the second quarter], I expect that difference to narrow and will push Dallas-Fort Worth to the top spot,” says CoStar real estate analyst Bill Kitchens, per the Dallas Business Journal.
According to Kitchens, easing inflation and improving consumer sentiment have helped drive demand. Landlord specials and concessions have also attracted tenants.
Within DFW, changes are not uniform. Frisco and Prosper, with 24% of inventory under construction, have experienced the sharpest rent declines in the metroplex, a 4.1% drop. At the same time, southeast Dallas has seen rents actually rise by 2.1%.
CoStar forecasts DFW rents will continue to rise through the end of 2024.