San Antonio’s multifamily market squeezed

SAN ANTONIO – Strong job and household growth across the San Antonio metro will boost demand for apartments this year, tightening vacancy and pushing rents higher, according to Moses Siller, senior associate, Marcus & Millichap National Multi-Housing Group.

Job creation in the metro is supported by the Eagle Ford Shale, the primary driver of a booming oil industry in South Texas. Exploration and extraction are creating thousands of jobs and bringing billions of dollars to Bexar County.

As employment opportunities grow, the metro’s population will grow 2 percent by the end of 2013, two times the U.S. population growth rate.

The projected growth has spurred developers to accelerate apartment construction in the market. An estimated 4,000 units will come online in 2013, which reflects a 33 percent increase from the number of units completed in 2012.

Development is also increasing downtown. Apartments underway or planned in the area are geared toward the growing pool of young professionals interested in a live-work-play lifestyle.

At the end of second quarter 2013, the vacancy rate was 6.4 percent. Further improvement is anticipated over the balance of 2013, with vacancy forecast to close the year at 5.5 percent.