Houstonians who feel their rents increasing now know just how much across the city. New data from rental platform Zumper reveals that rents in the Greater Houston area jumped 9.9 percent from February 2021 to February 2022.
By the numbers, that increase puts Houston at No. 49 overall nationally. The average rent here for a one-bedroom apartment is $1,200, while a two-bedroom flat is $1,490, at a 7.2 percent increase in one year.
“Rent’s rapid rise is largely tied to the home sales market. As home prices rise, they price out renters who would otherwise buy,” Zumper says. “And because the home sales market has gotten so hypercompetitive, many frustrated renters in the market for a home have simply given up because the process is so exhausting and demoralizing.”
As a result, the home sales market is keeping some tenants in the rental market longer than they’d like to be, leading to higher rents overall, according to Zumper.
Among the 100 cities included in Zumper’s latest rental index, Miami experienced the steepest year-over-year rise in the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment — 34.4 percent.
In Texas, Austin recorded the highest increase in the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment (30.3 percent) from February 2021 to February 2022, Zumper says. This February, the average rent there was $1,550.
Elsewhere in the state, average rent for one-bedroom apartment in San Antonio climbed 11.3 percent from February 2021 to February 2022, winding up at $1,080. Near Dallas-Fort Worth, Plano has witnessed the biggest one-year jump in the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment, some 17.1 percent to $1,440, Zumper says. Dallas landed at No. 3 in the region, with a 13.4 percent jump. The average rent in Dallas was $1,440, according to Zumper. In Fort Worth, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment climbed 9 percent to $1,210, while it increased 8.4 percent in Arlington to $1,030.
