Homes in Austin are renting for 8% more than last year, on average. Average rent price for homes across the Austin Metro area was $1401 per month for March 2008 compared to $1295/mo the year before. The Median leased price remained about the same at $1200. Homes are renting fast this March. The average days on market was down to 37 days from 42 last year. The Median days on market was 26 compared to 28 days last year, which means half of the rental homes in Austin that leased through the Austin MLS rented in 26 days or less, and half took more than 26 days to rent.
The average rental price per sqaure foot is up almost 6% to $0.73 compared to $0.69 last year. The average size rental home in Austin was 1915 sqft and the median size was 1794 square feet.
The number of homes rented was down about 10%. More renters are renewing leases as fewer can qualify for home purchases than in the past several years. This is good for landlords. Note that our average rental rate of $1401/mo for March 2008 is still lower that the average of $1497/mo that renters paid in the year 2000 and the $1524/mo renters paid in 2001 before Austin rents tumbled for four years and bottomed out at $1235/mo in 2005. So we’re still trying to climb back to where we were 6 or 7 years ago.
Below is the data chart for March Rentals in Austin. Further below is a year to date chart, breakdown by city, and a historical graph of rental rates in Austin from 1999 through the end of March 2008. As usual, comments and questions are welcome.
Feb 2008 |
Mar 2008 |
Mar 2007 |
Yr % Change
|
|
# Leased | 563 | 594 | 659 | -9.86% |
Avg List Price | $1,370 | $1,412 | $1,305 | 8.20% |
Median List Price | $1,200 | $1,250 | $1,200 | 4.17% |
Avg Leased Price | $1,362 | $1,401 | $1,295 | 8.19% |
Med Leased Price | $1,200 | $1,200 | $1,195 | 0.42% |
Avg Size SQFT | 1901 | 1915 | 1874 | 2.19% |
Median SQFT | 1755 | 1794 | 1769 | 1.41% |
Avg $ per SQFT | $0.72 | $0.73 | $0.69 | 5.87% |
Avg Days on Mkt | 39 | 37 | 42 | -11.90% |
Median Days on Mkt | 27 | 26 | 28 | -7.14% |
Below is the Year to Date Comparison chart.
Jan-Mar 2008
|
Jan-Mar 2007
|
Yr % Change
|
|
# Leased | 1736 | 1937 | -10.38% |
Avg List Price | $1,391 | $1,269 | 9.61% |
Median List Price | $1,248 | $1,175 | 6.21% |
Avg Leased Price | $1,380 | $1,260 | 9.52% |
Med Leased Price | $1,225 | $1,150 | 6.52% |
Avg Size SQFT | 1921 | 1863 | 3.11% |
Median SQFT | 1797 | 1769 | 1.58% |
Avg $ per SQFT | $0.72 | $0.68 | 6.22% |
Avg Days on Mkt | 39 | 49 | -20.41% |
Median Days on Mkt | 29 | 35 | -17.14% |
Below is a breakout by city. Notice that Austin-proper still commands the highest rents. Renters willing to be further out can get a lot more house for their money.
Austin
|
Round Rock
|
Buda/Kyle
|
Cedar Park
|
Leander
|
Hutto/Manor
|
|
# Leased | 574 | 238 | 105 | 106 | 72 | 108 |
Avg List Price | $1,547 | $1,246 | $1,166 | $1,350 | $1,139 | $1,133 |
Median List Price | $1,350 | $1,195 | $1,175 | $1,250 | $1,150 | $1,095 |
Avg Leased | $1,533 | $1,237 | $1,173 | $1,330 | $1,125 | $1,128 |
Med Leased | $1,325 | $1,195 | $1,175 | $1,238 | $1,148 | $1,095 |
Avg Size SQFT | 1868 | 2024 | 1855 | 2114 | 1799 | 1970 |
Median SQFT | 1710 | 1878 | 1839 | 2048 | 1701 | 1917 |
Avg $ per SQFT | $0.82 | $0.61 | $0.63 | $0.63 | $0.63 | $0.57 |
Avg Days on Mkt | 40 | 34 | 34 | 36 | 28 | 43 |
Med Days Mkt | 28 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 22 | 32 |
Below is a historical graph of rental rates in Austin TX. The graph speakes for itself. We boomed through the end of the 1990s until the tech bust and 9/11 in 2001, then the market tanked for 4 years until we finally started seeing an upturn in rental rates again in 2006.
Am I getting ripped off?
I am paying ~$1.30 per sq ft
Steve-
Have you done any analysis to determine what portion of the leased single family homes in Austin are seen by the MLS system (vs. private listings on craigslist, Chronicle, etc)?
Thanks for all the great information,
Tim
Felix: I can’t answer your question with more information about the location
Tim: The data I put up is only from the MLS.
Felix,
It depends on how high the demand is in your particular area. Location is the most obvious factor, but it truly depends on how many rentals are available. Also, what type of material is in the home? Is it carpet, hard tile, hard wood, etc?
Thanks,
Grant