Statesman confirms: Its a good time to rent in Austin

Our regular readers already know that Austin apartment occupancy is down and rent is not growing very quickly.

A few days later, the Statesmen said the same thing.

They did add a few new facts. This is only the second time in 15 years that occupancy has gone down in the third quarter. Significant because that is when students are moving in, and so it is especially unusual when occupancy goes down.

The advice is the same. Landlords should try and sign people to longer leases. Renters should go for shorter leases and negotiate for more concessions. Many complexes are already offering free months of rent.

They conclude that rent will actually decrease 3% when you include discounts.

Princeton and Stony Creek Apartments Sold

The Princeton apartments and Stony Creek apartments, containing 222 units, were purchased by M3 Multifamily, LLC, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company, and sold by San Antonio Alternative Housing Corp. No. 4, a Texas non-profit organization.

The Princeton apartments were built in 1963 and remodeled in 2007. They contain 90 units and are located at 4411 Airport Blvd. The Stony Creek apartments contain 132 units and are located at 4911 Manchaca Road.

Original story here

Austin’s apartment rent growth slows as vacancy rises

Bad news is your rent is probably going up.

Good news is your rent is going up slower than it has in a while.

Austin’s annual rents increased just under 1 percent in the third quarter, down from a 5.6 percent increase in the third quarter 2007. The apartment vacancy rate has increased from 5 percent to 6 percent in the last year. Meanwhile, developers are delivering 8,000 new units this year. This all means that in the immediate future supply will continue to exceed demand.

The significant inventory of unsold houses and condos also puts pressure on housing prices and makes it more difficult for apartments to raise rents. Efforts by the federal government to instill confidence in the housing market will likely lead to even more renters being pulled out of apartments to occupy homes.

This would be the time to push for concessions if your lease is about to come up for renewal.

The complete report is here.

Can You Recycle at Your Apartment?

Apartments with 100 or more units are required to offer participation in the city's recycling program.

If you want to recycle and your apartment doesn't offer the option the first step should be to try and talk to management. If you aren't satisfied with their answer you can call 311 and lodge a complaint.

Residents who live in smaller complexes may drop off recyclables at places such as Ecology Action in downtown Austin.

KVUE News report