Fort Worth-Dallas apartment rents reached record levels in February, according to Axiometrics, a Dallas-based apartment market research and analysis firm.
“DFW is one of the few markets nationwide that has resisted the rent-growth moderation trend of the past five months,” said Stephanie McCleskey, Axiometrics’ vice president of research, commenting in a news release.
The average rent in the Fort Worth-Arlington market was $974 in February, $4 more than the month before and $57 more than the February 2015 average, according to Axiometrics’ findings.
Fort Worth’s February effective rent growth was 6.2 percent, about the same as January’s rate and 7 basis points lower than the rate in February 2015 of 6.3 percent. A basis point is a unit equal to one hundredth of a percentage point.
Fort Worth’s annual effective rent growth has exceeded Dallas’ in 21 of the past 23 months.
Meanwhile, renters in the Dallas-Plano-Irving market paid an average of $1,083 in February, $6 more than in January, $5 higher than the previous record of $1,078 set in October 2015 and $58 more than in February 2015.
Occupancy increased in both Fort Worth and Dallas markets in February.
Fort Worth’s occupancy rate was 95.1 percent in February, compared with January’s 94.8 percent and 94.9 percent in February 2015.
Dallas’ occupancy rate for apartments was 95.4 percent, slightly higher than January’s 95.3 percent and up from 94.9 percent in February 2015. Dallas occupancy has been 95 percent or more – the point at which Axiometrics considers a market essentially full – for one full year.