Austin got an early jump on the rest of the nation by increasing effective rents 6.5 percent overall in January. But even more telling, this Texas market raised same-store rents 8.3 percent over the past 12 months.
Occupancy has climbed considerably there as well, up 5.1 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. Because the amount of new product there will remain low until this next phase of building begins to release units to the market, ALN expects Austin to set the pace nationwide on rental rate increases.
Last year was certainly better than 2009 nationwide. Only Melbourne, Fla., and Little Rock, Ark., reported a drop in overall occupancy rates while Florida markets Jacksonville and Gainesville and Las Vegas reported a drop in effective rental rates among markets ALN tracks.
Source: ALN Data Apartment News, February 2011