Assistance programs, eviction moratoriums and rent specials are helping keep apartments across San Antonio full.
Across the region, the average monthly rent increased 0.4 percent to $984 from March to November, said Cindi Reed, regional vice president at ApartmentData.com. Average prices have risen at luxury complexes but fallen at older properties with lower rents, and downtown San Antonio and neighborhoods around it have seen the biggest declines.
The average occupancy rate was nearly 92 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 but is expected to decline 1.5 percent this winter, according to a report by ApartmentTrends.com. Rents are also projected to drop 1.2 percent.
“The market has remained steady through the pandemic, and this is due in part to rental assistance provided and the moratorium on evictions,” founder and owner Robin Davis said. “However, during the fourth quarter, we are now seeing concessions increase, eviction notices being posted, and rents and occupancy dropping.”
About 5,000 units are expected to be finished in 2021, Reed said. A whopping 61 projects with nearly 18,000 units are proposed in the region, though it’s unclear whether those plans will ultimately pan out.
“I would imagine that many of them are going to wait and see what happens with this pandemic and the vaccine being released and so forth,” Reed said. But San Antonio is “performing well” and steadily absorbing units.
Davis of ApartmentTrends.com said nearly 6,900 new units have been added this year and another 8,851 are under construction. A bevy of new projects coupled with rising unemployment “have great potential to create a further slide in the local apartment market,” she said.
Publication: San Antonio Express News