El Paso apartment 2014 forecast: Hendricks-Berkadia

EL PASO – Metrowide absorption in El Paso increased 60.7 percent year over year with 580 newly occupied units in 2013, according to Hendricks-Berkadia. Population growth of approximately 14,200 persons last year was the primary driver of demand.

Approximately 390 apartments came online in the El Paso metro area last year. The last 100 apartments of the Venue at Montecillo were delivered in early 2013.

Construction commenced on two projects in the northeast quadrant of El Paso, with approximately 100 units of the 300 total apartments completed by the end of the year. The first phase of Villas at Helen of Troy community was started and finished in 2013.

Permitting activity rose last year as developers anticipated a rebound in demand in the coming years. In the last 12 months, builders requested permits for 1,690 multifamily units. In 2012, issuance totaled 1,180 apartments.

Asking rents declined 1.8 percent in 2013, with average rent falling to $798 per month in December. Class A asking rents descended 2.4 percent to $928 per month. Metrowide concessions were 1.3 percent of asking rents, the same as in December of 2012.

2014 Forecast

A large portion of new jobs will be in the northwest quadrant where 1,000 construction jobs at the Union Pacific Rail Hub in nearby Santa Teresa will be supported through 2015.

Business services company ADP, also in northwest El Paso, plans to hire more than 400 employees through 2017.

Strategic planning by developers ensured that more than one-third of deliveries this year will be convenient to new jobs in the northwest quadrant of the metro area. Nearly 400 units are in the planning pipeline, with a near even split between north and northeast El Paso.

Absorption is expected to remain positive for the next two years, though leasing will taper off each year compared to 2013.

This year, 560 newly occupied apartments are forecast. In 2015, absorption of 460 units is projected, in line with average absorption of 450 apartments annually over the last ten years.

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