Houston apartments surging: Over 5,000 multifamily units proposed, underway in some neighborhoods

Multifamily housing, as defined by Rocket Mortgage, includes apartment complexes, duplexes and townhomes.

According to the MRI reports, 1,037 units already opened in early 2025 through three different apartment complexes—Fairfield Sawyer Heights, Fairfield Waugh and Hanover Buffalo Bayou.

The report also shows that 3,132 units are proposed for the Heights, Washington Avenue and Montrose submarkets, comprising 10 additional multifamily complexes in the coming years. Additionally, 931 units are proposed for inside Loop 610 within Highland Village and Upper Kirby.

The largest development will be phases II and III of Hanover in Autry Park, with 700 units.

Why now?

LaTisha Grant, a real estate professional with the Houston Association of Realtors, said she believes the demand for multifamily housing has grown because of the population and job growth Houston has experienced in the last several years.

“We as a city went from very little to no multifamily homes, to now a massive increase of multifamily homes,” Grant said. “If we examine the individuals that are moving to Houston, many of them are moving from spaces where multifamily is standard.”

Houston is projected to add 408,000 residents by 2029, according to a 2025 Houston multifamily market report by Newmark, a real estate advisory and services firm. Newmark also found that, in February, the city had a monthly gain of 15,200 jobs, marking the highest nonfarm payroll figure in the city’s history before September 2024.

Nonfarm payroll is the estimated number of jobs gained in the previous month, not including farm workers, private household employees or nonprofits, according to the Corporate Finance Institute.

Chris Yuko, the managing director of development at Marquette Companies, a real estate development company with Houston apartment developments such as Tempo at White Oak and Catalyst, said Houston has been able to generate jobs that attract and bring people to the city.

“I see a lot of opportunity in understanding how Houstonians like to live, where they like to live, ... how we like to travel to our favorite bars and restaurants, how we commute, and how we avoid traffic,” Yuko said. “If you understand all those different factors, there are a lot of opportunities in Houston.”

Yuko said the Heights has been a successful market because of how close it is to Downtown Houston and the lifestyle that can be achieved in the surrounding areas.

“These neighborhoods that are close to downtown ... have the accessibility to all the offices and entertainment and restaurants, which makes all these neighborhoods very attractive,” Yuko said.

Measuring the impact

While Houston’s population continues to grow every year, so has the average cost of rent. According to a 2025 Kinder Institute for Urban Research housing study in June, rent in Houston rose 9% from 2022 to 2023, causing the affordability gap to grow.

“The number of households struggling to make ends meet is increasing,” the report reads.

Scott Evans, the director of business development at Hoar Construction, a company that has worked on multifamily projects in the city, said he believes Houston is a desirable city to build new apartments because, despite rent increasing, the cost of living is still cheaper compared to other major cities.

“If you graduate from college •with debt and want to go somewhere where you can afford to live and pay down your debt, you move somewhere like Houston,” Evans said.

The average costs of rent in Houston, according to the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, is $1,362 for a one-bedroom apartment. Average rent prices in other large metropolitan cities are:

• $2,176: Los Angeles
• $4,040: New York City
• $1,437: Austin
• $1,968: Chicago
• $1,419: Dallas

Evans said he anticipates the multifamily housing market will become steadier in the future with the number of apartment projects that will be planned or under construction. However, he said the market will continue to thrive as the newer generations continue to grow older.

“You’ve got the baby boomer generation, you’ve got the millennial generation that’s in their 30s, and now you’ve got the Gen Zers coming up behind them,” Evans said. “You’re going to need these types of living environments.”

However, Yuko said he expects a slowdown of new apartment projects as fears of tariffs and issues surrounding foreign affairs begin to concern investors.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and there’s a lot of volatility in the market, it has capital markets apprehensive to fully jump back in,” Yuko said. “Investors don’t like that much uncertainty unless there’s a return.”