The city of Austin had a larger increase in median one-bedroom rents in April than any U.S. city but one.
Austin’s one-bedroom median rent more than doubled — a 112 percent increase — in April 2022 from April 2021, a Rent.com report shows. Only Oklahoma City saw a higher year-over-year increase, with a 133 percent jump, according to Austonia.
Austin also had the fourth-highest increase in two-bedroom rents, with a 50 percent increase in the past year. Nationwide, rents rose 8.3 percent year-over-year. This trend is exacerbated by a 6.2 percent increase in inflation in the same span of time.
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While rents increased in more than 90 percent of rental markets in the last year, according to the publication, “not everyone is experiencing inflation the same way,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr in the report. The brunt of the load has gone to cities with more move-ins, primarily in most Sun Belt states, including Texas, Arizona, and Florida.
Austin ranked 16th on the list of cities people are moving to, San Antonio was 13th, Houston was 12th, and Dallas-Fort Worth was second. This is a significant drop from 2020 when more people moved to Austin than any other Texas city. But even back then, some counties were close to unaffordable for many homeowners.
Austin’s rents still haven’t cracked the top 10, however, even despite the breakneck increases. The city’s one-bedroom apartments are the 12th most expensive in the nation with an average price of $2,918, according to the publication, while its two-bedrooms fall behind the Texas cities Frisco, Dallas, and Plano, coming out only 34th on the list with an average monthly rent of $2,302.
[Austonia] — James Bell