Fort Worth rents cooling, following national trend. Will prices continue to fall?
Nationwide, the rental market is finally cooling. But slight decreases from record highs still result in an expensive rent payment.
The median rent price in the U.S. is only $24 below its record peak of $2,053, Redfin reported in July. That’s a drop of just over 1%. A year before rent was up 14% from the previous year.
The same trend is at play in Fort Worth. Here’s what the numbers say:
▪ Apartments.com puts the average rent at $1,247.
▪ Rent.com says the average rent is between $1,311 and $1,665.
▪ RentCafe puts the average rent at $1,430.
▪ Apartment List reports the median rent is $1,375.
▪ Zillow reports the median rent is $2,075.
In her experience, the average one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Fort Worth is 750 square feet and costs $1,375 a month, said Michelle Frank, a real estate agent with Willow Park-based Prime Realty Group.
The median household income in Fort Worth is $68,000, according to the Census Bureau. That would cover a rent of $1,700 without being cost burdened, defined as spending 30% or less of one’s income on housing.
Just over 100,000 units are proposed or under construction in the region, according to Apartment Data.
Dallas numbers
Some sources, such as Apartment Data, reports trends for Dallas/Fort Worth. It says the Metroplex’s median price of $1,516 is down 1%.
Rent.com reports the median rent in Dallas is $2,217.
Sources that list numbers for both cities don’t agree on which is more expensive.
For example, Apartment List puts Dallas’ median rent at $1,369. That’s slightly below Fort Worth, which Apartment List reports is $1,375.
Meanwhile, RentCafe puts Dallas’ average rent at $1,577 and Fort Worth’s average rent at $1,430.
How is rent changing?
Rent prices in Fort Worth mirror rental trends seen nationwide.
Prices are down slightly from last year — about 1.5% according to Apartment List, about 1% according to Rent.com and less than 0.5% according to Apartments.com.
But Fort Worth is starting to see slight month-over-month increases. Frank confirmed this, saying rents continue to increase.
Due to the area’s speedy growth, there are chunks of the Metroplex that are seeing year-over-year rent increases, instead of drops.
Denton has seen rents rise 2.2% over the last year, according to Apartment List. Arlington, Mesquite and Mansfield have also seen prices rise by more than 1%.
Luxury apartments
More than 20,000 new rental units came online in the last year, according to MRI ApartmentData. Of the 72 new communities, 93% are classified as Class A or luxury apartments.
In these luxury apartments, the cheapest one-bedroom apartment will usually cost at least $1,400.
Here are a few examples:
- The Bowery at Southside in Fort Worth leases one-bedroom apartments for between $1,400 and $1,800.
- One-bedroom apartments at Mason + Mill in Mansfield start at $1,485.
- At One Rangers Way in Arlington, a one-bedroom apartment costs between $1,900 and $2,500 per month, when it opens in 2024.
- The Ferro in Plano leases one-bedroom apartments for between $1,650 and $2,000 a month.
In addition, sources agree: it’s most expensive to rent in the growing towns and cities surrounding Dallas and Fort Worth.
The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Keller is $1,672, according to Rent.com. One-bedroom apartments in Plano, Lewisville and Frisco also cost in the $1,600s.
This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 4:42 PM.
