The coronavirus pandemic has brought many activities to a unsettling halt. But it has failed to blunt Dallas' apartment construction boom.
New data from Yardi Matrix, a supplier of commercial real estate data and research, shows shows that Dallas comes in at No. 8 in the U.S. for most apartments completed during the first six months of 2020, with 1,869 apartments built. Neighboring Farmers Branch lands at No. 18, with 1,161 units.
But the bigger news is what's to come, the research suggests. In the Yardi Matrix forecast, Dallas-Fort Worth eclipses all other U.S. metro areas for the number of new apartments predicted to be finished this year — 19,318.
This would be DFW’s third year in a row to lead all metro areas for annual apartment construction, with New York City claiming second place.
While that’s an impressive number of apartments, this year’s anticipated final total for DFW would be down 29 percent versus last year, Yardi Matrix says.
Little surprise to those paying attention to Texas real estate: More apartments were completed in Austin during the first six months of 2020 than in any other U.S. city. In the first half of the year, construction of 3,827 apartments was finished within the city of Austin, according to Yardi Matrix.
Right behind Austin on that list is San Antonio, where 2,871 new apartments hit the market in the first half of this year. Also in the top 20 is Houston, No. 7 with 2,085 apartments.
“Around the U.S., we have seen a variety of states, counties, and cities choose to close nonessential businesses for ‘stay at home’ or ‘shelter in place’ orders. For the most part, construction activity has been included as an essential activity that can continue with business as usual during these orders,” Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix, says in a release.
As far as other statewide forecasts go, the entire Austin metro area is projected to complete 9,342 apartments this year, according to Yardi Matrix. In that category, Austin ranks fifth among U.S. metro areas. Compared with last year, completion of new apartments in the Austin area is expected to rise 9 percent in 2020.
“The popular Texas metropolitan area saw an increase of 62,000 residents from 2018 to 2019,” Yardi Matrix says. “In response to the high demand, Austin metro has been an active scene for new construction in the past five years, having completed over 50,000 new apartments since 2016.”
In third place for projected apartment completions in 2020 is the Houston metro area. Yardi Matrix foresees the region welcoming 10,404 new apartments this year, up 2 percent from 2019.
Coming in at No. 19 for predicted apartment completions this year is the San Antonio area, with 4,595 new units on taps. However, that total would represent a 20 percent jump over last year, putting San Antonio in fourth place for the percentage increase from 2019 to 2020.
