Austin has one of the least competitive renting markets in Texas, a result of a 2.9% increase in apartment buildings last year, according to a study analyzing 2022 renting markets.

The Austin market, which includes surrounding cities such as Round Rock, San Marcos and Cedar Park, ranks as the sixth most competitive Texas market. El Paso is the most competitive, followed by McAllen and Dallas.

According to RentCafe, a national apartment database, Austin “heated up” in the beginning of 2022 due to a high lease renewal rate of 58.2%. However, the rapid construction of new apartment complexes last year decreased competition by 9.1% during the renting season as availability increased, according to the report. 

“There’s just a new apartment building going up every day,” said Nikolas Tieno, a West Campus Living real estate agent. 

However, Tieno said the West Campus area remains consistently competitive despite the results from the wider Austin area.

Journalism sophomore Elizabeth Beazer said she can hear the construction of new buildings two streets over from her West Campus apartment — a common experience for many students.

“When I walk down 24th (Street), the drilling (and) the banging is very prominent,” Beazer said. “I basically just have my AirPods in all the time because it just neutralizes all of the noise.”

As of January 2023, there are 11,625 housing units in the 78705 ZIP code, with almost 65% of those units being renter-occupied units, according to data from the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Census Bureau. The West Campus area remains one of the most heavily occupied ZIP codes in Texas.

Vito Raymond, another real estate agent working at West Campus Living and Metro 512 Realty, said many upperclassmen tend to favor areas outside of West Campus, looking toward areas in North Campus and Riverside. 

“They focus less on West Campus and more on non-high-rise buildings,” Raymond said. 

Public relations senior Marisa Chang lives in a condo in North Campus. She said when she first began looking for a place to live in 2020, she was looking in West Campus, but she had issues finding apartments with floor plans that worked for her. 

“It was a four-by-four,” Chang said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know three other people who want to live with me.’”

Chang and her roommate eventually found their current condo through a real estate agent. Chang said she is looking for another apartment to move into after graduation, hoping to settle at the intersection of Guadalupe Street and North Lamar Boulevard, which is known as The Triangle. 

“I hope I’ll be fine,” Chang said. “I hope I have somewhere to live.”

Raymond said apartment pricing decreased at the start of the pandemic, but the market is bouncing back. 

“Pricing is coming back up to the levels that you saw before the pandemic, sometimes exceeding those levels,” Raymond said.

Tieno and Raymond said inflation has impacted mortgage interest rates. Additionally, many of the new units provided by new apartment complex construction are usually more expensive and pre-leased, Raymond said. 

“Inflation’s impacted everybody for sure,” Tieno said. “But, I think students can find a way.”