Austin 2nd in nation when it comes to rising rents

According to a recent report, Austin ranks number two for cities in America with the largest rent increases. 

Real estate company Redfin says rent prices in Austin have gone up by 35% year over year on average. Local real estate agents back up this report and tell FOX 7 they do not believe those numbers will get lower anytime soon.

Austin was second only to Portland, Oregon and even surpassed New York City, which ranked fifth:

  1. Portland, OR (+39%)
  2. Austin, TX (+35%)
  3. Newark, NJ (+33%)
  4. Nassau County, NY (+33%)
  5. New York, NY (+33%)
  6. New Brunswick, NJ (+33%)
  7. Tampa, FL (+31%)
  8. Fort Lauderdale, FL (+31%)
  9. West Palm Beach, FL (+31%)
  10. Miami, FL (+31%)

"We're continuing to see rent go up," said Natalie Young, manager of A+ Apartment Locators, who agrees with the report and says rent is the highest it has been in a while.

"An average one bedroom in Austin is starting at $1,500 right now. It's the highest I've ever seen it in the 17 years I've been locating, and, that is not a downtown price, that's basically taking the city and including some of the suburbs like Cedar Park, Round Rock, Pflugerville," she said.

In the recent report, Redfin adds the average rent price in the Austin area increased by 35% from January 2021 to January 2022. Young says the sharp increase can easily be attributed to the large number of people moving to the area.

"It's supply versus demand and the demand is high, the supply is still low. We have a lot of apartments in the pipeline, per se, but we needed them all to open yesterday. The other thing I think that's also affecting it is that people who are first time homebuyers, people who might relocate potentially be purchasing a home, or even renting a home are having a hard time doing that and that's putting people into apartments," she said.

Young says she does not believe rent prices will go down anytime soon, but she does believe those high numbers will hit their peak by the end of the summer right after the busy season. If you are in the market for a new lease, her tip is to start looking now and lock in your lease.

"If you can do a 15-month lease, if you can do an 18-month lease, lock in your lease. If you can do a long lease and have it end anywhere between the months of October and January, you will position yourself in a better time of year," she said.

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