Texas Cities On Top 10 List

[Jim Cummings]

Below are some thoughts about from RECON about the North Texas Apartment  Boom

Experts weigh in on North Texas apartment boom

DALLAS () – A big chunk of North Texas' building boom is apartments, but will it continue? Several local market experts weighed in on market conditions with the Dallas Morning News. "We've got the jobs that keep churning in this town, and we continue to be underserved in apartments," said Bradley Miller, Encore Multi-Family LLC president. However, he also says soaring construction costs in some markets will slow things down. "The construction costs have increased to such a level and rents are not able to keep up," Miller said. "With the hurricanes, it is only going to get worse. We are hitting the ceiling on rents and the numbers aren't working like they were a couple of years ago." Spencer Stuart, senior managing director with apartment builder Legacy Partners, agrees. "With the hurricanes in Florida and Texas — and now Puerto Rico — building materials prices are going up," Stuart said. "I'm really worried about appliance prices and supply. "I do think that the level of apartment production in the Dallas area is going down and will continue to decline a little bit. I don't think we are in for a hard landing because of the strong economic factors." "Vacancy rates are still low," said Jay Denton with RealPage. "Apartment demand is pulling back a little bit because job growth is not quite what it was." For the 12 months ending with August, employment gains in North Texas added up to about 97,000 new jobs, down from the almost 120,000 annual job growth in recent periods. "Construction will remain high but not as high as it has been," Denton said.