Arlington Ranks Fourth in Nation for Five-Year Rent Growth

A study of apartment rent growth over a five year period yielded what may be startling results to some — Arlington was in the top five cities in the nation when it came to rental increases in a five year period.

The report, which was released by ApartmentList.com, found that rents in Arlington are up 28.4 percent over the past five years, the fourth fastest growth rate over that period among the nation’s large cities.

The national index grew by just 13 percent in the same time span.

Arlington also ranked seventh in the nation when it comes to year-over-year rent growth, with a three percent increase since February 2018, outpacing the national average of 0.9 percent and the state average of 1.3 percent. The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Arlington is currently $1,230, compared to the national average of $1,174, the report said.

However, February rents remained flat for Arlington. Rents have grown 3.1 percent in Austin year-over-year, 2.1 percent in San Antonio, and zero in Houston.

More locally, Grand Prairie saw the fastest rent growth in the metro area, with a Y-O-Y increase of 3.7 percent. Mesquite has seen the biggest drop in rents in the past month, with a 1.1 percent decline. Plano still has the most expensive rents, with a two-bedroom median rent of $1,440. Dallas proper has the least expensive, with a two-bedroom median of $1,110.

And while Dallas rents remain low and flat, their slight Y-O-Y increase of 1.4 percent is still higher than the state average and the national average.

And the metro area is not immune to the surge of high-income renters, which not only increases the demand for luxury units, but also increases the rent rates in a bid to keep up with supply. In the case of Arlington, as rents rise around the Dallas-Fort Worth area and city centers become more expensive (and as jobs settle in both city centers and suburbs) renters turn to suburbs to fill the need for mid-price and lower price apartments.

 

Among the smaller cities, places such as Union City, California, and Hillsboro, Oregon, made the list of fastest growing cities in America, filling up for largely the same reasons suburbs closer to the city centers are — affordability and availability. North Richland Hills is one of those smaller cities, and saw a five-year increase at just under 30 percent.

Last month, the national rent index fell by 0.1 percent month-over-month, a second straight monthly decrease.

“Year-over-year growth now stands at 1.0 percent, lagging the rates from the two prior years,” said Chris Salviati, a housing economist at Apartment List.

Henderson, Nevada, has experienced a 3.7 percent growth over last year, four times the national average, thanks to rapid job growth in the Las Vegas metro.

“Looking at the remainder of the list, Phoenix and nearby Mesa have both seen rent growth of more than 3.5 percent over the past year, while Texas and North Carolina each also have multiple cities in the top 10,” Salviati said. “The cities on the list are all located in regions with strong local economies which offer good employment opportunities.”