Rent Report
Dallas home to most expensive rent in Texas, shows new report
In July, a midyear report from Abodo found Dallas’ rents rose a monthly average of 1.12 percent, despite a nationwide year-to-date change of $0. As it turned out, that trend reversed course somewhat for the remainder of the year.
According to a recent rent report by Abodo, the early months of 2017 saw stability and decreases for much of the country, while rent for Dallas apartments steadily rose. In the last three months of the year, the nation felt steep increases, while Dallas saw its greatest rent decreases of 2017: down 2.8 percent in October, and another 2.5 percent in November.
May (4.5 percent), June (5.1 percent), and July (4 percent) brought the highest monthly increases of the year, which could bolster a recent movers survey that found spring and summer were the most popular months to move. (The survey was directed at homeowners, but given the correlating months of rent jumps, it seems renters share the sentiments.)
Dallas ended 2017 with a median one-bedroom rent of $1,208 — the highest in Texas — and an average monthly increase of 0.71 percent, compared with 0.21 percent nationwide. The year low of $1,096 was reached early on, in February, and surged to a high point in August, with $1,293.
Compared with statewide averages, Dallas’ numbers could look better. Average monthly one-bedroom rent in Texas in 2017 was just $882, and the state saw an average monthly increase of 0.5 percent. El Paso and Lubbock saw some of the country’s largest monthly decreases of the year, dropping an average of 1.9 percent and 1.4 percent a month, respectively. Corpus Christi, meanwhile, had the opposite trend, landing at No. 5 nationwide for highest average monthly increase: 1.9 percent. Apartments in Houston (0.78 percent), San Antonio (0.84 percent), and Corpus Christi were the only cities in Texas to outpace Dallas in average monthly increases.
Texas was one of 28 states that saw an overall rent increase in 2017, mainly in the South, Northeast, and Plains states. These numerous increases pushed the national median one-bedroom rent price up 2.4 percent, from $1,016 in January to $1,040 in December.
Moving into 2018, national rents climbed a bit, 0.6 percent, to $1,046. Although still well ahead of the national median, Dallas rents increased by a much smaller margin for January, up 0.1 percent to $1,210.
The state’s housing market is poised for change in 2018 — between the new tax bill and recovery from Hurricane Harvey — but if it’s anything like 2017, Dallas renters have three more months to enjoy the moderate rents before a summer surge. For more on where rents are rising and falling the fastest, visit Abodo’s 2017 Annual Rent Report.
