Multi-family Consulting / Market Reports / Austin
2026 Austin Multifamily Market Report
By Blue Brick Partners · Published · Updated · Version 2.1
Austin posted stronger operating metrics in Q2 2026. Trailing 12-month absorption of 19,522 units exceeded 12,726 completions, occupancy improved 45 basis points during the quarter to 89.8 percent, and effective rent rose 2.0 percent quarter over quarter. Annual rent remained 4.2 percent below the prior year at $1,412. The recovery is still at an early stage.
Latest Austin multifamily data
As of Q2 2026
- Effective rent
- $1,412
- per unit
- Occupancy
- 89.8%
- +45 bps QoQ
- Annual rent change
- -4.2%
- +2.0% QoQ
- T12 absorption
- 19,522
- units
- T12 completions
- 12,726
- units
- Under construction
- 15,174
- 4.5% of inventory
Metrics use the latest cited market report and retain that source's definitions. Compare asking rent with asking rent, effective rent with effective rent, and vacancy within the same methodology.
What is happening in the Austin multifamily market?
Demand is now clearing supply at a meaningful margin. MMG recorded 19,522 units of trailing 12-month absorption against 12,726 completions in Q2 2026, including 5,414 units absorbed during the quarter. Starts fell 41 percent year over year to 7,156 and the active pipeline contracted 22 percent to 15,174 units. The improving balance produced a strong sequential pricing gain. The 4.2 percent annual effective-rent decline shows that operators are still rebuilding from several years of concessions and negative trade-outs.
Submarket dispersion is extreme. East Austin led every submarket on deliveries at 3,989 units, which is why concessions along East Riverside and the Plaza Saltillo corridor have been the most aggressive in the metro. Round Rock and Georgetown together took 3,249 units, Cedar Park 2,514, North Central Austin 1,749, and San Marcos 1,571. Outer-ring asking rents sit at $1,399 in Round Rock, $1,409 in Buda, $1,468 in Kyle, and $1,467 in Pflugerville, where the 1,000-unit Merle on Howard began leasing in fall 2025. Only Downtown and West Austin posted positive rent growth, at 4.8 percent and 0.4 percent.
The operator base is concentrated. Greystar manages roughly 946,742 units nationally and remains the dominant third-party manager in the metro, while Austin-based RPM Living oversees 241,479 homes and competes directly on Class A lease-ups. ZRS sits at roughly 113,000 units nationally and stays active on Sun Belt Class A. Endeavor Real Estate Group has eighteen Austin properties totaling more than 6,050 units, including the 369-unit Solomon. Trammell Crow Company and High Street Residential opened pre-leasing at 700 River and announced The Block Yard in East Austin, while Riverside Resources, ILM Capital, Roscoe Properties, and Mill Creek Residential all carry meaningful exposure. Investment volume for 2025 came in near $1.3 billion at $176,871 per unit and a 5.5 percent Q3 cap rate, while construction starts dropped to their lowest level since 2011.
What is hurting Austin multifamily performance right now?
Insurance and property tax are doing the most damage to Austin NOI. Travis Central Appraisal District handed apartments a 15.6 percent assessed value increase in 2025, taking the apartment book from $52.98 billion to $61.91 billion before protests pulled it back 4.3 percent. Informal hearings open April 14, the protest deadline is May 15, and ARB hearings run through June. Texas insurance premiums jumped roughly 43 percent per unit at the worst of the hail and freeze cycle, and CBRE tied an 11.1 percent value drop in Houston multifamily to insurance repricing. Premiums on inland Austin Class B and C product still run $700 to $1,200 per unit annually.
Bad debt and turnover are the quieter problems. Travis County eviction filings ran north of 10,500 in 2023, and 2024 set a record with roughly 800 monthly filings in April versus 200 in April 2022. The National Apartment Association tracked a 17.5 percent jump in turnover costs in 2024 and a 4.6 percent rise in leasing expense to $292 per unit, on top of payroll inflation around 3.6 percent. CoStar tracked concessions at 65 percent of Austin properties in 2025, with nearly 75 percent of Class A properties offering at least one concession. Effective rent on a thirteen month lease with one month free sits roughly 7.7 percent below asking. Austin Energy operates as a regulated monopoly, so retail provider switching is unavailable, which makes RUBS design and submeter accuracy the primary levers on utility pass-through.
Where we focus our work in Austin
The areas below show up in most Austin engagements. Scope is set per client based on what is actually needed.
Property tax protests and budget defense
We work the TCAD informal calendar from mid-April, build the income approach with rent rolls, T-12s, and concession-adjusted effective rents, and prepare for ARB hearings in June. The 4.3 percent TCAD average reduction is a baseline we push past with documented concessions.
Insurance program review and deductible structuring
We benchmark per-unit premiums against the $700 to $1,200 Austin range, evaluate wind and hail deductible buy-downs, and remove coastal exposure assumptions from Austin insurance programs.
Concession strategy and rent integrity
We model whether a property is better served burning concessions for occupancy or holding asking rent and accepting slower velocity. East Austin and Round Rock need different answers than the urban core.
Bad debt and screening recalibration
We audit screening criteria against current applicant quality, set reserves that reflect Travis County eviction throughput, and rebuild collections to recognize charge-offs at twelve to sixteen weeks.
Payroll and staffing models
We rework on-site headcount around leasing velocity, cross-train maintenance and leasing staff, and evaluate AI leasing tools so the August through September surge stays inside budget.
Utility recovery and submetering
We audit RUBS allocations and submeter calibration, then close trash, water, and sewer recovery gaps that erode NOI by 1 to 3 percent on most assets.
Submarket repositioning
We determine whether a Class B asset in a heavy-supply submarket should chase rent recovery in 2026 or renovate now while Austin construction labor remains the most available it has been since 2021.
Austin multifamily FAQ
How long does the rent decline last in Austin?
Effective rent increased 2.0 percent from Q1 while absorption exceeded completions. Rent remained 4.2 percent below the prior year. The base case is sequential stabilization through the second half of 2026, followed by broader annual rent growth in 2027. Heavy-supply submarkets will lag the urban core. One positive quarter is insufficient evidence of full recovery.
Does Senate Bill 840 help or hurt existing Austin operators?
SB 840 took effect September 1, 2025 and forces certain Texas cities of 150,000 or more to allow multifamily and mixed-use by right on land zoned for office, commercial, retail, warehouse, or mixed-use, with reduced parking, height, setback, and density limits. Several cities have passed defensive ordinances in response. For existing Austin operators, SB 840 increases the long-run supply threat in commercial corridors, though new starts triggered now will not deliver until 2028 or later.
What is the practical impact of the Austin HOME initiative on apartment owners?
HOME-1 allowed up to three units on most single-family lots and HOME-2 cut minimum lot size from 5,750 square feet to 1,800 square feet. The first year produced about 436 approved units in duplex and two- to three-unit projects, which is real volume that remains small relative to the 30,002 conventional multifamily units delivered in 2025. Small-lot infill creates the most direct competition for Class C garden properties in central neighborhoods. Institutional assets over 200 units face less direct competition from these changes.
Sources and references
The figures and references on this page draw from the following industry sources.
- MMG Austin Q2 2026 Market Report
- Matthews Austin Multifamily Q4 2025
- MMG Austin Q3 2025 Market Report
- Yardi Matrix Austin Multifamily
- RealPage Austin Profile October 2025
- TCAD 2025 Market Values
- Community Impact: HOME Initiative First Year
- Haynes Boone: SB 840 Now in Effect
- Trammell Crow: The Block Yard East Austin
- Austin Apartment Association Industry Report
- CBRE: Insurance Costs Suppress Sun Belt Values
Discuss your Austin multifamily engagement
We work with owners, operators, and ownership groups on assets and portfolios in Austin-Round Rock. Send a short note about the property or situation and we will follow up.