Apartment demand across Texas finally started to show signs of normalization in 1st quarter 2023. While these numbers certainly aren’t cause to celebrate, it’s a positive sign toward more normal trends. Austin was the Lone Star State’s demand winner in the first three months of 2023, with absorption of 1,919 units. This market saw a quick bout of net move-outs in 3rd quarter, but for the most part has stayed in the black. Houston wasn’t far behind, logging demand for 1,840 units in 1st quarter. This was the market’s first positive quarterly demand since this time last year. Other Texas markets to see demand return for the first time in a while were Dallas, Fort Worth, Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Even in Texas markets that logged net move-outs in 1st quarter 2023, the decline wasn’t terrible. The state’s poorest showing was in Lubbock, where 281 net move-outs wiped out the progress the market made in the last quarter of 2022. For college towns like College Station and Lubbock, however, net move-outs are typical in the first three months of the year.
