Rent Report

Dallas home to most expensive rent in Texas, shows new report

The most expensive rent in Texas is here in Dallas.

Photo courtesy of Abodo

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.

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REAL ESTATE NEWS

Nearly half of Dallas home sellers are slashing prices amid buyer’s market

Photo by Dillon Kydd on Unsplash

Nearly 58 percent of San Antonio home sellers dropped their list price in February

Prospective home buyers in Dallas may want to seal the deal this spring. According to a new Redfin report, nearly 47.3 percent of home sellers in the city dropped their list price in February.

Two other Texas cities clocked ahead of Dallas: In Austin, the number was 55.2 percent, and in San Antonio, it was an eye-popping 57.9 percent — the highest share among the 50 most populous regions in the U.S.

According to the real estate marketplace, Texas’ dominance on this list isn't coincidental. Along with Florida, the state has been building more homes than anywhere in the nation, giving prospective buyers more options and bargaining power.

Nationwide, 34.2 percent of February home sellers cut their asking price, a 31.5 percent rise from a year earlier and the highest share ever since Redfin began tracking markets in 2012. The average cut was $40,915, approximately 7 percent of the original sticker price.

Redfin attributes the discounts to a classic supply-and-demand imbalance. High mortgage rates combined with economic uncertainty have kept buyers on the fence while sellers continued to flood the market with new homes. The company speculates that the real rate of cuts may be higher since it does not account for delisted properties.

“A lot of people who couldn’t sell their homes last year opted to delist instead of reducing the price, with a plan to relist this spring because they knew that would give them a better chance of selling,” says Redfin real estate agent Aditi Jain, via a release “Some homeowners need to move immediately, but those who can afford to time the market may get a better price.”

Redfin says that spring consistently produces the lowest share of price cuts, with May having the lowest share in six of the past 10 years, and April taking the title in three others.

Sellers who closed in December faced the highest likelihood of cutting their price. Sellers who have owned their homes longest are also better protected from market fluctuations.

Owners who have lived in their homes for at least seven years cut prices at a rate of 31.8 percent, compared to 37.4 percent for those who have owned for two years or less. More recent buyers who purchased their homes at the height of the pandemic boom are now reluctant to accept what the market will actually bear.

The five U.S. cities with the highest shares of cut listing prices are:

No. 1 — San Antonio, Texas (57.9%)
No. 2 — Austin, Texas (55.2%)
No. 3 — Dallas, Texas (47.3%)
No. 4 — Tampa, Florida (45.9%)
No. 5 — Fort Lauderdale, Florida (44.9%)

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