Dallas: job growth = apartment construction boom

NORTH TEXAS – Dallas-Fort Worth leads the country in apartment building with about 23,500 units under construction. During the last year, the DFW labor market has added about 111,000 jobs — more than any other area of the country.

“Dallas was one of the first markets to see construction come back” after the recession,” Jay Parsons with MPF Research said. “Those new units are leasing up very, very fast."

Only about 6 percent of DFW apartments are currently vacant.

Much of the apartment building boom in North Texas is concentrated in urban areas. More than 2,800 apartments are being developed in Dallas’ Uptown and downtown area. Another 2,523 new units are on the way in the Oak Lawn-Turtle Creek neighborhood.

MPF Research is predicting that apartment rent increases in North Texas will slow slightly as between 10,000 and 11,000 new units open their doors. And occupancy levels should fall a bit.

The rush to build apartments in North Texas is mirrored in the rest of the country. Currently there are about 300,000 apartments being built in the U.S., MPF Research estimates.