July shows an upswing in rents for single family homes in Austin compared to July a year ago and June of this year. The number of homes leased through the Austin MLS increased 7% over a year ago – from 692 to 741, a much smaller increase than last month, but a notable increase nonetheless. The average Leased Price increased more than 4% compared to a year ago from $1254 per month average to $1307 per month. In the month before (June 2006), the average leased price was $1269. The average square foot size increased and this caused an actual drop in the average leased price per square foot from $0.70 to $0.68. Most notable is the decrease in Days on Market. Homes are leasing much faster overall than a year ago, averaging 47 days on the market in July. The median days on market was 36 days, meaning half of all rental homes leased in less than 36 days, and half took longer.
June 2006
|
July 2006
|
July 2005
|
Yr % Change
|
|
# Leased |
741
|
741
|
692
|
+7%
|
Avg List Price |
$1278
|
$1317
|
$1265
|
+4%
|
Median List Price |
$1195
|
$1200
|
$1175
|
+2%
|
Avg Leased Price |
$1269
|
$1307
|
$1254
|
+4.2%
|
Med Leased Price |
$1150
|
$1200
|
$1150
|
+4%
|
Avg Size SQFT |
1841
|
1913
|
1791
|
+7%
|
Median SQFT |
1750
|
1804
|
1750
|
-+3%
|
Avg $ per SQFT |
$0.69
|
$0.68
|
$0.70
|
-3%
|
Avg Days on Mkt |
48
|
47
|
69
|
– 32
|
Median Days on Mkt |
38
|
36
|
51
|
– 29%
|
So, is the rental market in Austin finally coming out of it’s 5 year slump? It’s too soon to get excited. If you’re a renter, you’re still able to rent single family homes in Austin for less than what you would have paid in 1999. Not a bad deal. As of June’s mid-year update last month, the year-to-date rental totals in Austin were still slightly below 2005. 2006 could still end up being the 5th consecutive year of declining rents in Austin. It’s going to take more than a strong July to bring things around overall. But this is good news for landlords nonetheless. Any month where rents increase and days on market decrease is a good month, but 1 month is not enough to declare a trend. I’ll need to see sustained, month after month increases before I’ll believe the Austin rental market downturn to be at an end. See additional charts below.
This month, I added a breakdown of rents by School District. Please note that as I update the chart from the month before, I notice that some areas have pretty wild swings from month to month due to small sample sizes. These numbers should not be relied on in any given month to be representative of the full picture, but rather to show what happened in the particular month being reported. For a more reliable overall picture, check the mid-year rental market update I did last month which includes the first 6 months of 2006 and 2005. Trends can better be gleaned from that larger sample set.
One thing that is consistent month to month though is that rental rates continue to be stronger in Austin proper than in surrounding areas (with the exception of Eanes, Lakeway and Dripping Spring). Home prices are higher also, but I continue to believe that long-term appreciation-minded buyers and investors will do well staying inside Austin as close in as they can afford, particularly Areas 10 and SW as these areas are still appreciating well and homes rent fairly quickly when priced and prepared properly.
MLS Area or City
|
# Leased
|
Avg $
Leased |
Avg
SQFT |
AVG $ Per SQFT |
Avg
Days |
Austin
|
364
|
$1454
|
1851
|
$0.79
|
43
|
Round Rock
|
124
|
$1203
|
2002
|
$0.60
|
51
|
Cedar Park/Leander
|
102
|
$1214
|
2111
|
$0.58
|
42
|
Hutto/Manor/Elgin
|
30
|
$1058
|
1853
|
$0.57
|
67
|
Kyle/Buda
|
40
|
$1138
|
1868
|
$0.61
|
43
|
Dripping Springs
|
13
|
$1614
|
2204
|
$0.73
|
83
|
Lakeway
|
9
|
$2068
|
2488
|
$0.83
|
62
|
Pflugerville
|
71
|
$1168
|
2048
|
$0.57
|
48
|
Westlake/Eanes
|
10
|
$2788
|
2744
|
$1.02
|
22
|
Georgetown
|
19
|
$1113
|
1719
|
$0.65
|
48
|
Austin Locations by MLS Area – Houses Only – July 2006
|
|||||
MLS Area or City
|
# Leased
|
Avg $
Leased |
Avg
SQFT |
AVG $
Per SQFT |
Avg
Days |
E. C. Austin (Area 3,5)
|
33
|
$1093
|
1343
|
$0.81
|
52
|
S. Central Austin (6,7)
|
10
|
$1477
|
1408
|
$1.05
|
46
|
South Austin (Area 10)
|
60
|
$1231
|
1637
|
$0.75
|
35
|
SW Austin (Area SW)
|
43
|
$1565
|
2235
|
$0.70
|
58
|
West Austin (W)
|
5
|
$1818
|
2293
|
$0.79
|
62
|
Central Austin (1B,4)
|
26
|
$1782
|
1359
|
$1.31
|
52
|
NW Hills Austin (1A)
|
4
|
$2097
|
2531
|
$0.83
|
54
|
River North (RN)
|
9
|
$2072
|
2553
|
$0.81
|
28
|
Lake North (LN)
|
10
|
$1071
|
1534
|
$0.70
|
52
|
Area 1N (NW Austin)
|
20
|
$1517
|
1988
|
$0.76
|
35
|
Area NW (NW Austin)
|
21
|
$1455
|
2173
|
$0.67
|
49
|
N. Central Austin (2)
|
12
|
$1209
|
1321
|
$0.96
|
26
|
North Austin (2N, N)
|
33
|
$1213
|
1731
|
$0.70
|
38
|
Nrth East Austin (NE)
|
12
|
$1184
|
1872
|
$0.63
|
40
|
E. Austin (3E, 5E)
|
6
|
$1153
|
1764
|
$0.65
|
99
|
SE Austin (9, 11, SE)
|
21
|
$985
|
1489
|
$0.66
|
66
|
Austin Leases by School District
– Houses Only – July 2006 |
|||||
School District
|
# Leased
|
Avg $
Leased |
Avg
SQFT |
AVG $
Per SQFT |
Avg
Days |
Austin ISD
|
237
|
$1356
|
1670
|
$0.81
|
42
|
Bastrop ISD
|
10
|
$1039
|
1687
|
$0.62
|
33
|
Del Valle ISD
|
14
|
$1076
|
1822
|
$0.59
|
101
|
Dripping Springs ISD
|
12
|
$1680
|
2328
|
$0.72
|
83
|
Eanes ISD
|
10
|
$2788
|
2744
|
$1.02
|
22
|
Elgin ISD (no leases)
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Georgetown ISD
|
19
|
$1113
|
1719
|
$0.65
|
48
|
Hays County ISD
|
40
|
$1138
|
1868
|
$0.61
|
43
|
Hutto ISD
|
24
|
$1035
|
1795
|
$0.58
|
66
|
Lago Vista ISD
|
6
|
$1011
|
1583
|
$0.64
|
46
|
Lake Travis ISD
|
30
|
$1912
|
2183
|
$0.88
|
47
|
Leander ISD
|
117
|
$1289
|
2133
|
$0.60
|
42
|
Manor ISD
|
16
|
$1186
|
2003
|
$0.59
|
51
|
Pflugerville ISD
|
87
|
$1174
|
1976
|
$0.59
|
45
|
Wimberley ISD
|
8
|
$1292
|
1850
|
$0.70
|
58
|
Round Rock |
156
|
$1262
|
2042
|
$0.62
|
50
|
Steve,
What are the outlook of rental properties in and around UT campus area? Are they going up or remain flat as the rest of Austin area?
Good post, very informative. Thanks.
Bill asked: “What are the outlook of rental properties in and around UT campus area? Are they going up or remain flat as the rest of Austin area?”
Bill, most of the UT area rental stock is apartments and condos. I don’t track those. Also, many of those properties lease outside the MLS and in-house with the campus area locators and management companies, so any data I could gather from the MLS would not be comprehensive.
My educated guess is however that “as Austin goes, so goes the campus area”. They have somewhat of a captured rental base there, but students will seek out the best rental value just like everyone else, and if that means riding a shuttle from Far West or East Riverside to save money, or riding a city bus from South Austin, they’ll do it.
Great info!
Any data for Round Rock ISD? Appears to be missing from your school district chart.
Woops, you’re right. I added Round Rock for you.
Nice analysis, your numbers are bearing out what we’ve been seeing for a while. Like they always say, location, location…..
do you think if you tabulate the data by zip? i could help out if you can provide me the data source. thx.