North Texas Suburbs Dominate Report on Most New Apartments in Past 5 Years

Frisco and McKinney ranked 1 and 2 in RentCafé’s latest report on top 20 suburbs with the most new apartments in the past five years.

From 2016 to 2020, Frisco built 8,044 units across 25 buildings while McKinney added 4,843 in 19 buildings.

North Texas dominated the top half of the list with Farmers Branch (fifth, 3,788 units), Grand Prairie (seventh, 3,308), and Garland (ninth, 2,865) also cracking the top-20. The report cited that the most common type of rental buildings were garden-style apartment complexes.

Texas suburbs Spring (sixth), Katy (12th), and Georgetown (15th) also made the list.

RentCafé analyzed Yardi Matrix data for large-scale multifamily properties of 50 units or more, in search of suburban areas that have developed the most since 2016. RentCafé is a nationwide apartment search website.

How did so many North Texas suburbs make that big an impact on RentCafé’s study?

Sanziana Bona, RENTCafé research analyst, said the lack of single-family supply led to renting in North Texas becoming a popular and affordable housing choice.

“As a result, this led to a boom in apartment construction, in both urban areas and suburbs,” Bona said. “The most sought-after places are the so-called fringe areas, at the intersection of urban and suburban zones, because they are close to cities, but at the same time have the suburban feeling.”

Drilling down more, Collin County, which includes Frisco and McKinney, had other ingredients for growth. In 2020, Frisco grew faster than any other large U.S. city over the past decade while McKinney was fourth, according to a Census Bureau study.

In another RentCafé study released in November, Frisco and Plano led the nation in the increase in the percentage of renters vs. homeowners over the past decade. In that study, McKinney ranked eighth.

“Regions that have grown significantly in population in recent years are seeing a boom in apartment development, and the Southern United States clearly dominates the map,” according to the RentCafé report. “Suburban Texas is a great example, claiming more than a third of the national list.”