Dallas Multifamily Report – July 2024
Most fundamentals point to a steadier DFW market.
Dallas-Fort Worth’s multifamily market stood on steady ground in the middle of the second quarter. Advertised asking rents picked up after nine months of flat or negative performance, improving 0.2 percent on a trailing three-month basis through May, to $1,540, while the U.S. average rose 0.3 percent, to $1,733. Yet the high volume of units slated for delivery in 2024 will likely curb further growth and will also impact occupancy, which is already below 93.0 percent as of April.
In the 12 months ending in March, DFW employment posted a 2.0 percent expansion, gaining 65,800 net jobs and outperforming the 1.4 percent national rate. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate clocked in at 3.4 percent in April, faring better than the U.S. (3.9 percent) and the state (4.0 percent), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Not all sectors expanded, with professional and business services and information losing 5,100 jobs combined in the 12 months ending in March. However, as of April, the metro had 4.9 million square feet of office space under construction. Government and education and health services led job gains, accounting for half of the positions added during the period.
Developers delivered 7,947 units in 2024 through May, all in upscale projects. The under-construction pipeline totaled 63,975 units, with record supply forecast for the year. Meanwhile, transactions remained tepid, amounting to just $586 million, with the average per-unit price down 19.6 percent year-to-date, to $123,965.
