U.S. renter population growing, vacancy rates declining

TEXAS – Vacancy rates in rental units across the United
States continue to decline, with the average slipping to 7 percent nationwide
during fourth quarter 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Vacancy rates have declined significantly since the
recession, driven by a steady increase in the size of the renter population,” according
to a bureau statement.

This trend has forced rental rates up in many cities and
states across the country.

Texas has a rental vacancy rate of 9.7 percent, while
California came in at 4 percent, New York at 5 percent, Kansas at 12.9 percent,
Montana at 3.8 percent, Louisiana at 12.8 percent, Vermont at 2.9 percent,
Oregon at 3.5 percent and Washington at 3.8 percent.

Larger cities with very low vacancy rates include Portland,
Oregon, with a vacancy rate of 2.4 percent; Los Angeles, 2.7 percent; Austin,
3.4 percent; San Francisco, 3.5 percent and Seattle, 3.9 percent.

In Texas, one-bedroom rents decreased by 0.9 percent and
two-bedroom rents decreased by half a percent between November and December.
They are now up 3.2 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, over the past year
to create average prices of $1,000 and $1,070, respectively.

The Dallas suburb of Addison pulled ahead of Dallas for
Texas’s most expensive city, with a median two-bedroom price of $1,740. Dallas
came in second at $1,640.

Austin comes in as Texas’s seventh most expensive city, with
median rents of $1,400 for two-bedroom and $1,100 for one-bedroom apartments.

One-bedroom and two-bedroom units are up from last year by
7.2 percent and 8 percent, respectively.

Brownsville ranks as the city with the largest
year-over-year rent increase in Texas, showing an 8.5 percent growth rate for
two-bedroom units.