Texas Submarkets with Explosive Apartment Inventory Growth

The latest apartment building cycle has brought record completions to the U.S. in the past decade. Some neighborhoods saw especially explosive growth in the past 10 years, and most of those were in Texas.

Within the nation’s largest 150 apartment markets, there are 997 submarkets. Among those submarkets, 12 saw apartment inventory grow by more than 140% in the past decade, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. In comparison, the U.S. overall saw an increase of 21% between the end of 2014 and the end of 2024.

Interestingly, while smaller markets tend to see bigger percentage growth rates given their size, only one neighborhood in a smaller market (Boise City) is included in this list. For the most part, large markets claimed the fastest growing neighborhoods. And among the 12 submarkets across the U.S. with the most intense inventory growth in the past 10 years, most were located in Texas.

Dallas Submarkets

Dallas overall has been a national leader for completion volumes in the past 10 years, with the delivery of nearly 201,000 units. Coming at #2 and #3 on a national scale were Houston (164,100 units) and Austin (126,100 units). Dallas’ large existing base led to an inventory increase of 38.3% between 2019 and 2024, which ranked at #21 among top 150 markets.

A few Dallas submarkets, mostly northern and eastern suburbs, blew past the market’s inventory growth pace for the decade.

Apartment inventory in Frisco more than tripled in the past 10 years. The existing stock grew 238.3% between 2014 and 2024, with the addition of 26,618 new apartment units. In fact, that total volume of completions was #3 nationwide, following only the typically heavy hitters Brooklyn and Jersey City. Frisco is a northern suburb of Dallas, spanning across both Collin and Denton Counties. Collin County’s population grew by 11.1% between 2020 and 2023, according to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Denton County saw its population increase by 10.2%. In comparison, the U.S. overall saw population growth of 1% during that time period.

The Rockwall/Rowlett/Wylie submarket saw the nation’s second biggest inventory increase in the past 10 years, with an upturn of 234%, accounting for about 8,800 units. Wrapping around Lake Ray Hubbard, the affluent Rockwall/Rowlett/Wylie submarket is located northeast of Dallas. Rockwall County’s population growth was some of the biggest nationwide, growing by 20.3% in 2020-2023.

Located just south of the Rockwall/Rowlett/Wylie submarket, Kaufman County saw its inventory more than double, growing by 143.9% in the past 10 years with the addition of 3,716 new apartment units. Kaufman County was the nation’s fastest growing county between 2020 and 2023, with a population increase of 26.2%.

Austin Submarkets

Austin apartment additions of about 126,100 units from 2014 to 2024 resulted in one of the nation’s biggest inventory growth rates of 61.5%. Only Boise City, Idaho and Huntsville, Alabama topped that pace.

Three submarkets – two in the eastern portion of the market and one located way up north – saw inventory more than double in the past decade.

Quite the transformation has taken place in East Austin in the past decade. Over 18,100 apartment units were added in East Austin in the past 10 years, growing the existing unit base 155%. Just next door is the bigger expanse of Southeast Austin, where about 8,000 units built in the past 10 years grew the inventory by 140.4%. Both submarkets benefited considerably from the construction of Texas State Highway 130, a tollway which completed in 2012 and has since allowed for a boom of building activity across a once barren landscape. East Austin is mostly Travis Couty, which saw population increase by 3% in 2020-2023. Southeast Austin crosses over into Bastrop County, which logged a bigger increase of 13% in that time frame.

While small in landmass compared to neighboring Round Rock/Georgetown, Cedar Park has increased its existing apartment base by nearly 13,800 units in the past 10 years, resulting in growth of 145.3%. This rapidly growing area has been a suburban magnet, drawing young adults with its big corporate tech headquarters like Apple and Google, and attracting young working families with one of the few light rail lines to downtown Austin. Cedar Park’s Willaimson County saw a population increase of 13.3% between 2020 and 2023, but the city of Leander, specifically, saw growth of 31.6% in that period.

Fort Worth and Houston Submarkets

Two other Texas submarkets more than doubled their existing unit base between 2014 and 2024.

North Fort Worth/Keller completions of 10,900 in the last decade grew total inventory 151.9%. This northern suburb is in Tarrant County, which saw its population increase by 3.2% between 2020 and 2023.

Houston’s Spring/Tomball submarket added nearly 14,500 units in the 2014–2024-time frame, increasing the existing base by 145.8%. Spring/Tomball is also a northern suburb, located in Harris County, which grew by 2.1% in the 2020-2023 period.

Texas apartment supply volumes are expected to drop notably in the near term, but these submarkets should continue to feel the effects of sizable inventory growth for a at least the next few years.