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Q4 2021 | Houston Multifamily Market Report

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2021_Q4_Multifamily_HERO_1536x1040_v2

Key Takeaways
  • Occupancy up quarter over quarter and annually
  • Absorption more than doubled in 2021 when compared to 2020
  • Average rents rose over the year and over the quarter
  • Median and average sales price rose and cap rates compressed
2021_Q4_Multifamily_Occupancy Rate 2021_Q4_Multifamily_Net Absorption 
 2021_Q4_Multifamily_Under Construction  2021_Q4_Multifamily_Rent

 

Houston Highlights

Demand for multifamily housing continued in Q4 absorbing 3,548 units, pushing the year-end 2021 total absorption to 37,308 units. The average monthly rent for multifamily units increased from $1,165 per month in Q3 2021 to $1,184 per month in Q4 2021 and from $1,043 per month in Q4 2020. There are over 15,000 units under construction and another 31,260 units are proposed. Occupancy increased over the quarter by 20 basis points and over the year by 340 basis points, from 88.4% in Q4 2020 to 91.8% in Q4 2021.

Market Indicators
 2021_Q4_Multifamily_Market Indicators
Historic Comparison
 2021_Q4_Multifamily_Historic Comparison
 
Market Fundamentals

 2021_Q4_Multifamily_Market Fundamentals

Houston’s overall occupancy rate increased 20 basis points over the quarter. The average monthly rent rose 1.6% from $1,165 in Q3 2021 to $1,184 in Q4 2021.

Pricing & Sales Volume

Houston’s multifamily investment sales volume increased 735% year-over-year Q4 2020 TO Q4 2021 and 386% over the quarter between Q3 2021 and Q4 2021 according to our data provider, Real Capital Analytics. When comparing Houston to the U.S., the national annual and quarterly volume increases of 126% and 132%, respectively, was significantly less than Houston’s annual sales volume.

Houston Sales Volume ($)

2021_Q4_Multifamily_Sales Volume

Houston’s median sales price per unit increased by 18% over the quarter from $137,171 to $161,859. The U.S. median price per unit increased by 7% over the quarter from $181,147 in Q3 2021 to $194,453 in Q4 2021.

Median Price per Unit  
2021_Q4_Multifamily_Median Price Per Unit

 

Cap Rates

Houston’s multifamily median cap rate decreased to 5.3% from 4.8% and the U.S. median cap rate decreased from 4.9% to 4.7% over the quarter. Houston’s median cap rate decreased 40 basis points from 5.2% over the year. In comparison, the median U.S. cap rate dropped 20 basis points from 4.9% over the year. Houston’s average cap rate dropped from 5.1% to 5.0% over the quarter.

Median Cap Rate
  2021_Q4_Multifamily_Median Cap Rate
   
  Cranbrook Forest 
   
 
Houston investor purchases Cranbrook Forest*

Houston investor, Hazel Equity, has purchased Cranbrook Forest, a northwest Houston apartment community, located at 13875 Ella Boulevard in Houston, Texas.

Cranbrook Forest was built in 1983 and contains 261 apartment units. The five different one and two bedroom floorplans average 829 square feet and the property was approximately 92% occupied at the time of the sale. During the past three-to-five years, the seller, Cranbrook Forest, invested in excess of $3 million for capital improvements, primarily focused on the exterior of the community. Cranbrook Forest features desirable community amenities, including an upgraded leasing center, technology room with computer stations, fitness center, coffee bar, resort-style pool and children’s playground. Located just west of Interstate 45, Cranbrook Forest is within convenient access to the entire Houston metropolitan area.

*Colliers transaction in cooperation with Cindy Cooke, Brad Cooke, Teresa Lowery and Ron Cameron

 

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Q4 2021 | Houston Multifamily Market Report

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Related Experts

Teresa Lowery

Senior Managing Director Multifamily

Houston

  • Colliers' Cooke Multifamily Team Partner, along with Cindy Cooke, Brad Cooke, Colliers in Arizona and Ron Cameron, Colliers Atlanta – one of Colliers most experienced multifamily investment sales teams in the nation.
  • 41 years of Multifamily Investment Sales experience; 20+ years with Colliers
  • 1998-2001 Senior Vice President, Investment Sales for Pinnacle Realty Management Company, South Central Region multifamily brokerage division. Named 1999 3rd Top Producer Nationally for achieving $240,000,000 in Annual Sales. “Top Ten” Nationally for 2000 and “Transaction of the Year” for largest sale in the company’s 20 year history.
  • 1997-1998 CB Richard Ellis’ Investment Properties Group, Houston Apartment Brokerage Division, specializing in exclusively marketing multi-housing portfolios on behalf of institutional clients.
  • 1993-1996 Joined Camden Property Trust, the nation’s 4th largest apartment REIT, as Acquisitions Analyst. Part of the Acquisitions Group during the period where the Houston-based, publicly-traded corporation acquired 20,000 units representing $500 million in multi-housing assets.
  • 1980-1993 Senior Sales Associate with International Commercial Properties Co. Brokered over 14,000 units in Houston, Texas during the mid-80’s RTC period.
View expert

Chip Nash

Senior Managing Director, Multifamily Investment Properties

Houston

Chip Nash joined Colliers Houston in September 2020 and is Senior Vice President and a Director of Multifamily Invest Properties.

Before joining Colliers, Nash was a Managing Director for JLL focusing exclusively on private capital investment sales of multifamily properties for eight years. Previous to JLL, Nash held similar positions at Berkadia, Hendricks and Partners, and Pinnacle International Realty Group. He has negotiated hundreds of transactions encompassing a 25+ year track record in investment sales along with a previous seven years spent in the commercial banking business for a conglomerate of banks owned by Pulte Home Corporation.

View expert

Bob Heard

Senior Managing Director, Multifamily Investment Properties

Houston

Bob is a Senior Vice President within Colliers’ Houston office and a director of Multifamily Investment Properties. Bob brings 15 years of real estate experience specializing in capital markets and multifamily investment sales. Over the course his career, Bob has been involved in all aspects of income-producing properties including the management, syndication, rehabilitation, purchase and sale of multifamily developments. Prior to joining Colliers, Bob was a Vice President within JLL Houston’s Capital Markets Multi-Family Investment Group. Prior to JLL, Bob was a Senior Associate with the multi-family investment sales group at Berkadia. Bob is a Licensed Real Estate Broker with a Series 7 License.

View expert

Jim Humphries

Senior Vice President

Houston

Jim Humphries joined Colliers in Houston in 2015 and is part of the Colliers Investment Services Group (CISG). He specializes in multifamily assets with an emphasis on properties within Texas and the Southern United States.

Colliers Houston’s ISG team takes a consultative approach to commercial real estate which includes developing and executing strategies that are both consistent with its clients’ objectives as well as feasible in the current market environment.

Jim has 10 years of multifamily real estate experience. Before joining Colliers, Jim was an  analyst with the HFF Houston Multifamily group where he was directly involved in more than $6 billion in transactions. In that role, his responsibilities included underwriting and market analysis for both existing and to-be-built acquisitions and dispositions.

Jim’s primarily focus is on multifamily investment services and capital markets. His responsibilities include multifamily investment sales, business development, financial and debt analysis, market research, due diligence and offering memorandum production.

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Patrick Duffy

President

Houston

Pat is the managing director of brokerage services in Houston for Colliers.  Pat has more than 37 years of experience in commercial real estate as a producing broker, educator, sales manager and managing broker. Pat relocated to Houston from Florida where he served as President of the Colliers offices in Tampa Bay, Orlando and Southwest Florida.

​Pat started his career as Director of Marketing for a real estate data base company where he spent three years interviewing top brokerage houses throughout the United States and assisted in their automation needs as a consultant and instructor.   As President of the Colliers Houston office, he has direct responsibility for recruiting, training and managing the sales and leasing teams, property management and business plan creation and coordination for the company.

Pat was responsible for building and organizing retail service delivery capabilities for Colliers worldwide as chairman of the Colliers Retail Specialty Group (96-2000, 2002-2013).  Pat is also a founding member of the Colliers Oil and Gas practice group.  Among his academic accomplishments, Pat wrote the capstone case study for the CCIM program's final course offering from 1986 - 1998.  The case study combined the marketing and financial concepts taught by CCIM to allow the students to apply the material to a simulated commercial property disposition.

He has been an instructor for NACORE’s (now CORENET) Intermediate Finance Course and was awarded the Top-Rated Faculty Certificate in 2000.  Pat has been quoted in national and regional publications including the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Newsweek, Real Estate Forum, National Real Estate Investor, Globe Street and others.  He has been an expert panelist for NAIOP, Real Share, ICSC and many other real estate organizations.

Pat has served as a member (and Chairman) of the Colliers Managers Steering committee, the Board of Directors for Colliers USA and is the past Chairman of the Colliers USA Board of Advisors.  In 2003, Pat was awarded Colliers Manager of the Year.  In 2004, he was chosen by Colliers as the Tom Richardson Award recipient, an honor based on strength of character. In 2012, Pat was chosen as the recipient of the Colliers USA Pinnacle Award for service excellence.  Pat is the only person in Colliers to win all three of these awards.  He served as an instructor for Colliers University 2010-14.   In 2017 Pat was recognized as a “Best Boss” by Real Estate Forum magazine.

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