Houston apartment outlook not as rosy as oil price tumbles via Houston Chronicle

In the last two years, the multifamily market in Houston has been booming with sky-high occupancy rates and rents, hordes of new people moving to the city and thousands of brand-new apartment units under construction.

But the forecast for 2015 — in light of tumbling in oil prices –is far less rosy, a panel of industry leaders said at the annual Houston Apartment Association meeting Tuesday. Rent growth will drop off and job growth will shrink as construction crews bring even more units online.

Job growth was key to the last couple years increase in demand for apartments. Jesse Thompson, business economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Houston branch, predicted that job growth in Houston will shrink by about half of that in recent years and below the average to about 50,000 to 55,000 a year.

Read more...Houston apartment outlook not as rosy as oil price tumbles - Prime Property