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These Houston ZIP codes proclaimed most expensive places to rent in Texas

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Downtown Houston is one of the most expensive places to rent in the state.

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Houston's hottest 'hoods come at a price — some of the highest in all of Texas, according to a new study.

RentCafe's 2019 list of most expensive ZIP codes to rent puts three Houston areas among the 10 priciest in Texas.

The sixth priciest ZIP code in the state, and most expensive in H-Town, is 77005. The area, encompassing West University Place and Rice Village, clocks in with an average rent of $2,033 a month. Curiously, rents in the area have actually decreased 1.1 percent from last year, according to the study, which used July 2019 averages calculated by Yardi Matrix. It's the only spot in the top 10 where rents have dropped, if only slightly.

At No. 7 is the neighboring ZIP code of 77006 (home to Montrose and Hyde Park), where the average rent is slightly cheaper, at $1,997 a month. Rents are up just 0.3 percent from last year.

The downtown Houston hub of 77002 ranks eighth, with average rent costing $1,970 a month, a 0.4 percent increase from last year.

Renters in Austin and DFW are faced with steep prices, too. The other top 10 most expensive ZIP codes in Texas are:

No. 1 — 78701 (downtown Austin), $2,885 a month
No. 2 — 75205 (Highland Park/Knox-Henderson in Dallas), $2,791 a month
No. 3 — 78701 (Tarrytown in Austin), $2,634 a month
No. 4 — 75225 (University Park in Dallas), $2,451 a month
No. 5 — 75201 (downtown Dallas), $2,088 a month
No. 9 — 78702 (Central East Austin), $1,932 a month
No. 10 — 75022 (Flower Mound in DFW), $1,831 a month

But it could be worse. The three most expensive ZIP codes in America, says RentCafe, are all located in Manhattan, with rents ranging from $5,053 to $6,211 a month.

rent reports

Rent report

This Houston suburb had the highest apartment rent prices in June

The City of Sugar Land, Texas – City Government/Facebook

The asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Sugar Land was $1,450 in June, and two-bedroom units were $1,870.

Apartment rent prices in June were more expensive in Sugar Land than they were anywhere else in Houston, according to the latest monthly rental report from Zumper.

The rent report, which analyzed active listings from the previous month across all cities in the Houston metro, tracks the most and least expensive rent prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments, and determines the cities with the fastest growing rents. Listings were aggregated by city to calculate median asking rents.

Despite having the most expensive rent in the Houston area last month, the asking rent for one--bedroom apartments in Sugar Land was technically lower than it was a year ago. Sugar Land's asking rent for one-bedrooms dropped 0.7 percent year-over-year to $1,450, while asking prices for two-bedroom units grew 3.3 percent to $1,870.

Galveston saw the highest jump in one-bedroom prices year-over-year this past June, with asking rent for single-bedroom units rising 2.7 percent to $1,140. Two-bedroom apartments in Galveston dropped 2 percent year-over-year to $1,450.

One-bedroom rent in Pearland decreased 1.5 percent to $1,340 in June, which Zumper found was the second-highest rent price in Houston. Year-over-year prices for two-bedroom units rose nearly 3 percent to $1,770.

Houston proper had the third most expensive rent in the metro area last month, with prices for one-bedroom units remaining flat year-over-year at $1,280, while two-bedroom units decreased 7.4 percent to $1,500.

Houston-area cities with affordable rent compared to the statewide median
Zumper's report revealed that the median asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Texas came out to $1,134 last month, but there was no figure given for two-bedroom units.

Out of the 13 Houston-area cities included in the report, six had affordable asking rent prices lower than the statewide median: Huntsville ($850), Pasadena ($900), Texas City ($910), Lake Jackson ($920), Baytown ($940), and La Porte ($1,100).

Huntsville rent prices were the cheapest in the metro last month, but rent in Baytown decreased the most dramatically since last year with prices plunging 14.5 percent. Huntsville's current asking price is 5.6 percent lower than it was this time last year, which was the second-lowest drop.

These are the June rent prices for one-bedroom apartments in the three remaining Houston-area cities:

League City – $1,200
Spring – $1,180
Conroe – $1,150

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