Austin Rental Market – July 2006 Update

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.

 

Austin Leasing Stats July 2006
Previous Month and Year Comparison
All MLS Areas – Houses Only
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.

 

Austin Leasing Stats July 2006
by City and MLS Areas- Houses Only
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

 

7 thoughts on “Austin Rental Market – July 2006 Update”

  1. 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?

    Reply
  2. 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.

    Reply

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