High-quality schools, job opportunities and a good lifestyle are the top reasons cited for the rental market spike in the area, Land said. Also, residents have a relatively short commute to downtown Austin, he said.
"We see people coming here in droves," Land said.
He said Falconhead was the only long-term residential rental option in the area beginning around 2003.
"However, there was a booming short-term rental market here since there were no hotel rooms except for the Lakeway Inn," Land said.
The increase in younger individuals, families and single-parent families added to the need for apartment homes, he said.
"In 2011, 2012 and 2013, investors heard that the city of Austin did not have enough apartment units," Land said. "So [developers] started building [rental complexes] like crazy in other areas."
Bee Cave
Six multifamily communities—Falconhead, Cielo, Madrone, Estates at Bee Cave, Avanti Hills at the Galleria and Paseo at Bee Cave–comprise 1,720 available residential rental units in Bee Caves city limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction, City Manager Travis Askey said
Madrone and Estates are on target to be 90 percent to 95 percent full by the end of the year, Land said. Cielo is approaching a 70 percent occupancy rate, he said.
This year, Bee Cave will update its comprehensive plan that allows a ratio of two single-family detached homes for every multifamily attached home, Askey said. The ratio will be discussed during the plans review, he said.
Lakeway
Lakeways comprehensive plan sets single-family residential zoning as the citys primary land use, Deputy City Manager Chessie Zimmerman said. Unlike Bee Cave, Lakeway does not have a single-family to multifamily ratio requirement, she said.
The Mansions at Lakeway, a 350-unit rental townhome community under construction at the corner of Hwy. 71 and Serene Hills Drive, will be Lakeways first housing complex designed for rental uses, Zimmerman said. The site is the only one in the city currently zoned for apartments, she said.
Four Points
"The majority of renters in the [Four Points] area aren't your typical renters," said Tim Moncrief, Realtor and co-owner of Bartlett Real Estate Group. "Most people are out here leasing to get a feel for the community before making a commitment [to buy a home]."
Moncrief, who said he has been involved in real estate in the Four Points area for more than two decades, said Austin developers jumped on the suburban Four Points market after seeing the success of its rental neighborhoods. He said the areas rental market is extremely active.
"If [the rental communities] continue to grow, you'll see renters [moving] here for their ultimate home," Moncrief said.
The latest multifamily rental neighborhood in the area—Aria Steiner Ranch, 4800 Steiner Ranch Blvd., Austin—opened March 5 with 302 apartment and townhome units.
The complex includes stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops in individual units as well as a community resort-style pool, bocce ball area, dog park, fitness center and game room.
The project encompasses 20 acres of a 50-acre tract, with the remainder composed of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, said Mark Jensen, vice president of development at the NRP Group, the community's developer.
Residential rental community Escape at Four Points, 11210 RR 2222, Austin, opened its 344 units in 2014. Other apartment communities in the area include Hyde Park at Ribelin Ranch, 9900 McNeil Drive, Austin, and Promesa, 9415 McNeil Drive, Austin.
Westlake
The Westlake rental housing market includes apartments and townhome complexes offering one- to three-bedroom units and ranging in price from $1,100 to $3,000 per month. As of mid-February, all were at least 90 percent occupied.
Construction plans for the areas newest rental home community at Capital of Texas Hwy. and Walsh Tarlton Lane are underway. Developers are expecting to break ground on the projects first units this summer, developer William Sayers said.
The multiuse development is located across from Barton Creek Square Mall at the site of a former movie theater and is slated to include 189 rental apartment and townhome units, he said.
Future of Austin-area rentals
With more than 100 people moving to the region daily, Austin simply is not adding enough housing to meet demand, according to a Jan. 14 Real Estate Council of Austin report, "Affordable Austin: Building the Housing We Need at Prices We Can Afford."
To keep up with its growing population, Austin will need to create about 69,000 more housing units within the city limits and 317,000 more units in the surrounding urban areas by 2025, the report stated.
In the Lake Travis area, Land said he predicts the rental market will continue to climb, in terms of both volume and rates.
"The prices [of rental units] wont decrease," he said. "If the [real estate] market stays strong, rental prices will keep creeping up," he said.
Once the occupancy levels reach 80 percent to 85 percent, apartment complex managers may begin to raise rental rates, Land said.
Downside of an up market
As Austin-area residential rental prices increased from some of the states least expensive to some of the states most expensive in the past two decades, many local workers are being priced out of living near their employment, according to the RECA report.
Average rents have increased dramatically with average income growing only slightly in comparison, it stated.
"More than 60 percent of the 100,000 new jobs added in the Austin region in the past decade were in sectors that pay less than $45,000 a year, a trend that is expected to continue," the report stated. "Approximately 26,000 of these jobs were in the leisure and hospitality industry and paid less than $20,000 a year."
The report stated that land prices in many areas are too expensive to build moderately priced single-family houses. However, small apartment buildings, duplexes and condominiums can all be built at a lower cost per unit than single-family homes, it stated.
