Here’s How High 1-Bedroom Apartments in DFW Increased in One Year — From My Own Apartment Hunting
Apartment units I could afford one year ago are now out of range
My fiance and I are big travelers.
We love going anywhere, at any time, whether we’re driving or flying.
And our love for travel includes our living situation — we move around very often. Not always because we have to or need to. Oftentimes we move down the street, and others have been cross-country.
We simply enjoy trying new places.
Unfortunately, moving around like this is now much harder than it used to be, and that’s what leads me here today.
My Apartment Search in Northern DFW
I moved into my apartment in Allen, TX — just north of Dallas, TX — from Minnesota almost one year ago exactly in February 2021.
This was the second time my fiance and I had moved from Minnesota to Texas.
During my search in 2021, I looked at nearly 13 apartments in the northern DFW metro area. I had kept the documents from most of these places knowing I would be in the market again soon.
And because my fiance and I now find ourselves looking to upgrade to a larger apartment, it was finally time to pull out the stack of these documents and see what apartments were priced at one year ago to help as a starting point.
I was BEYOND shocked when I compared them to prices today.
Massive Rent Increases
I was expecting an increase of some sort — but not as high as 42 percent.
In at least one instance that’s exactly what I found.
While the northern DFW metro area is certainly not the only place seeing massive rent increase, as noted in this recent CNBC article, I thought it would help to see these rent increases from my own personal search and compare apartments I toured one year ago to today.
Without listing the names of the apartments, here are the apartments I toured in 2021 listed by cities and how much they increased heading into 2022.
Allen, TX
Apartment 1 :
I toured 3 separate floor plans at apartment 1 in 2021.
The unit I wanted most — an 800 square-foot space — was priced at $1,369/month. In less than one year at the time of writing this piece, this same unit has increased 34 percent to $1,832/month.
Apartment 2:
The only unit I was interested in — a 753 square-foot space — was priced at $1175/month in 2021. At the time of writing this piece, it has increased 26 percent to $1,475/month.
McKinney
Apartment 3:
I was interested in a few apartment floor plans at this complex, but it really came down to two — either a 705 square-foot unit priced at $1,239/month or an 821 square-foot unit priced at $1,339/month.
These floor plans have increased 16 and 15 percent, respectively, to $1,440/month and $1540/month.
This was one of the smallest increases I came across.
Apartment 4:
The only apartment I was interested in — an 840 square-foot space priced at $1,245 — increased 24 percent to $1541.
Farmers Branch
Apartment 5:
I’ll admit — I wasn’t 100 percent interested in this apartment complex when I went to tour it. But I have the numbers, so that’s all that matters.
And the numbers show that the 744 square-foot unit I toured in 2021, originally priced at $1,300/month, is now 25 percent higher at a price of $1,435/month.
Coppell
Apartment 6:
Now this one was a cool apartment.
But not cool enough to pay for price increases of 23 percent for the unit I was interested in — a 788 square-foot space, which went from 1,435/month in 2021 to $1,767/month in 2022.
Lewisville
Apartment 7 :
This apartment would’ve been a serious contender in 2021 had it had an island.
Good thing we didn’t choose this 852 square-foot space, however, because we would’ve seen a price increase of 18 percent — going from $1,345 to $1,590 in less than one year.
Garland
Apartment 8:
This apartment had the largest increase of the group. The 750 square-foot unit I toured in 2021, originally priced at $1,297/month, increased 43 increase to $1,852/month in 2022.
Needless to say, I threw this option out immediately.
Fort Worth
Apartment 9:
I toured four separate floor plans at this apartment complex, ranging from 752 square feet to 909 square feet.
Price increases eclipsed 20 percent for each of these units, reaching as high as 26 percent for one unit in particular.
Rent Increases in Northern DFW
As I said earlier, this trend clearly isn’t isolated to the northern DFW area.
But sharing my experience should provide useful insight.
Mainly — that the cost of renting is increasing substantially, in many cases beyond the rate of inflation.
If you’re preparing a move to the DFW area — or anywhere for that matter — or you’ve been thinking about it for a while, I’m hopeful that this piece allows you to prepare realistic expectations as you continue through your journey.
