Houston will need more than 214,000 new apartment rental units by 2030 to meet demand from a population that is drifting from homeownership, according to a new study by the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association.
Houston's need is a significant sliver of the 4.6 million new apartments the study said must be built nationwide in the same time frame in order to accommodate living trends being pushed toward rental units by delayed marriage and home purchases in younger generations, a retiring generation pressed to rent and arrival of immigrants with propensity to rent.
"We're experiencing fundamental shifts in our housing dynamics," said Norm Miller, principle at Hoyt Advisory Services. "More people are moving away from buying houses and choosing apartments instead."
In Houston, the trend is already evident in the local landscape of midrise apartment buildings that has blossomed in recent years, so much so that apartment supply has exceeded renter demand.
Houston likely won't have a problem meeting the target set by the study. The city led the nation in new apartment construction in 2016, adding 23,558 units that year.
