Rent Costs Flattening in North Texas, Experts Predict Price Drop in Coming Months

If you've been paying rent at all in the last two years, you've probably felt the burn in your wallet.

Rent costs reached all-time highs in North Texas in 2021 and earlier this year, as demand for housing – both for-sale homes and rentals – soared to new heights and spurred a housing frenzy.

"2021 is a year that we'll probably never see anything like that again, anytime soon. Maybe in our lifetimes,” said Jay Parsons, Head of Economics & Industry Principals for Richardson-based RealPage.

“We had this perfect storm of events when COVID hit. We had this work from anywhere phenomenon. People moving around. Most people had more money than they had before thanks to stimulus, thanks to wage growth. We saw more demand for rentals in 2021 than any year in the three decades we've tracked the rental housing market."

But now, it's all changing and the market is shifting. The pendulum is finally swinging in favor of renters.

"2022 is just a very different year. Inflation has gone up, consumer confidence has gone down and people are much more nervous right now. When we're nervous, we're more likely to stay put and wait it out,” said Parsons.

He said because of those factors, rent prices have flattened over the last few months across the country and North Texas.

“Just like you've seen in the for-sale housing market, there's been a significant slowdown in demand for rentals and 2022,” he said. “DFW is still booming. But in Dallas and all across the country, there has been just a freeze on household formation, housing demand, just consumer confidence, and high inflation.”

Rental markets consistently mimic housing markets so with rising interest rates, home buying has slowed. Therefore, we're not seeing huge rent increases anymore.

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