renter nation

Austin has the 3rd fastest-growing renter market in America

The number of renters in Austin is on the rise.

Whether people are flocking to Austin for college, work, or for retirement, the rate of renters in the city has grown faster than it has in any other city in Texas, a new study has revealed.

Austin has the third-fastest-growing rental market in the U.S. and ranks as the No. 1 fastest-growing market in the Lone Star State, according to MoveBuddha.

MoveBuddha's experts investigated renter-occupied housing trends from 2019-2024 across more than 250 U.S. metro and micro areas with at least 10,000 rental units. Areas were ranked by the percentage of growth in renter-occupied units during the five-year period.

Austin's renter population has increased 29.2 percent from 2019-2024, and more than 93,000 renter-occupied units have been added during that same period. That's the largest numeric increase among the top 25 fastest-growing renter markets, the report found.

"[In Austin,] a flurry of new construction might be the best explanation for the 29 percent increase: the city’s robust development has helped stabilize housing prices and increased supply, even amidst waves of in-migration interest," the report said.

The report's findings revealed an unexpected trend emerging among the cities experiencing the fastest renter growth. Among them was that most prominent age demographic leasing rentals isn't among college-age folks or mid-career professionals, but rather individuals heading into retirement.

"Renters aged 65-plus increased 14.12 percent from 2019 to 2024, the fastest growth of any age group across the 889 metro and micro areas analyzed," the report said.

Renter growth in Texas
The South is home to 28 of the top 50 fastest growing rental markets in America, and 10 of those markets are located in Texas.

Regarding places like San Antonio, the report finds renter households "exploding in locales that stand a chance of getting swept up into high regional growth and in spots that already have economies built on transient jobs," rather than in cities with pre-existing surges in population.

Renter markets in South Texas are also on the rise: McAllen and Brownsville respectively ranked 30th and 38th among the fastest-growing rental markets in the U.S. McAllen's renter population has grown 15.4 percent since 2019, and Brownsville's has increased 13.3 percent.

Other Texas cities with the fastest-growing rental markets that ranked in the top 100 include:

No. 9 – Odessa
No. 21 – Sherman
No. 23 – San Antonio
No. 27 – Lubbock
No. 28 – Midland
No. 32 – College Station
No. 48 – Dallas
No. 55 – Killeen
No. 60 – Houston
No. 65 – Lufkin
No. 82 – Victoria

real estate renters movebuddha austin

Small Booms

Central Texas ZIP among 15 fastest-growing new neighborhoods in U.S.

City of Bee Cave/Facebook

Central Texas keeps on growing.

As Texas' ever-growing population generates more demand among regional housing markets, one Central Texas ZIP Code has seen more growth than many others in the country.

The 76537 ZIP Code in Jarrell (north of Georgetown) ranks No. 14 in RentCafe's new study that analyzes the 50 fastest-growing "new neighborhoods" in America "that barely existed a decade ago." Two more local ZIPs in Liberty Hill and Austin also made the cut.

The study reviewed housing inventory and population growth across 32,000 U.S. ZIP Codes. It then narrowed down the search to the top 50 locales that experienced a 51 percent minimum surge in new housing units from 2014-2023.

Overall, Texas dominated the list with 17 of the nation's 50 booming new neighborhoods.

RentCafe determined that 76537 in Jarrell saw a 218 percent population growth over the last decade. To keep up with the city's growth, housing inventory soared by 193 percent during the same period.

In 2014, there were just 3,939 residents living within the bounds of 76537, which stretches across both sides of I-35. During that same year, there were only 1,547 housing units in the area, which has since spiked to 4,538 units as of 2023. The ZIP Code now boasts a population of more than 12,526 residents, the study found.

Elsewhere in the Central Texas area, 78642 in Liberty Hill and 78738 in Austin and Bee Cave respectively ranked as the 31st and 38th fastest-growing ZIPs in the U.S. over the last decade.

The report's findings revealed the Liberty Hill area has more than doubled its housing inventory to 8,399 units, up from about 3,500 units in 2014. The area's population has also more than doubled, from 9,867 to 24,146 residents as of 2023.

The West Austin and Bee Cave-area population in 78738 has surged 108.7 percent over the last decade, from 13,794 to 28,790 residents, and housing inventory soared 135 percent to keep pace with the growth.

The top 10 "newest" neighborhoods in the U.S., says RentCafe, are:

No. 1 – Chino, California (91708)
No. 2 – Timnath, Colorado (80547)
No. 3 – Colorado Springs (80927)
No. 4 – Fulshear, Texas (77441)
No. 5 – Ponte Vedra, Florida (32081)
No. 6 – Jersey City, New Jersey (07311)
No. 7 – Fort Worth (76177)
No. 8 – Colorado Springs (80924)
No. 9 – Prosper, Texas (75078)
No. 10 – Melissa, Texas (75454)

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