Those trends can be seen in the Katy-area data from ApartmentData.com—which spans from north of the city of Katy through south of the Cinco Ranch area, and from eastern Brookshire to Hwy. 6.
Between February and May of 2022, average monthly rent prices in the Katy area rose 1.9%. That compares to an average rent price increase of 2.66% across the Greater Houston area over that time.
However, the rate at which rents have been increasing so far in 2022 has been slower than the pace seen in 2021, ApartmentData.com President Bruce McClenny said. Although average rents in the Katy submarket jumped from $1,232 in February 2021 to $1,452 in November 2021, they have increased to $1,492 in May.
“We all knew this was going to slow down, temper itself back to more normal times,” McClenny said.
McClenny said the Houston metro area is still more affordable than Dallas and Austin. Houston’s average rent hit $1,233 in May, which compares to $1,475 in Dallas and $1,648 in Austin. San Antonio has the cheapest average rent of the four cities at $1,193, according to ApartmentData.com.
“That’s, in a relative sense, more positive for people that live here and want to live here,” McClenny said.
Moving forward, McClenny said prices are likely to continue to rise. If rental rates were to drop, it likely would not be for desirable reasons, he said, giving job losses as an example.
McClenny said Texas generally does a good job of adding apartment supply, but it still is not adding supply fast enough to bring rents down.
“I don’t think it could add supply fast enough to make a difference this year and next,” he said. According to McClenny, six-month apartment rental trends are generally a good predictor of what the next six months could bring to the market. He also said that the market will probably settle down to some degree in 2023."
