We know that Austin is growing a lot, thanks to several businesses relocating and moving to Austin. And it turns out almost half of them are from out of state! StorageCafe, a nationwide self-storage website, analyzed nearly 2 million renter applications and found the following renter trends for 2020.
2020 Renter Trend #1: Renters Prefer Urban, Not Suburban
Many reports were coming out last year that many renters were moving to the suburbs to buy during COVID since everyone started working from home and needed more space. But according to the report, the numbers were equal to pre-pandemic patterns. About 32% of renters intended to relocate to suburban areas. In the past five years, renters have preferred urban locations. With minimum income at 2K and a max of 2M, more than half preferred urban locations. It is interesting to note that higher income meant a higher percentage of people wanting to live in a metropolitan area. More than half of all the generations preferred urban living as well.
2020 Renter Generational Interests
Gen Y or Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, make up most renters interested in changing places last year. Gen Z, the youngest generation that’s born between 1997 and 2012, is beginning to join the renter population as 23% of them moved in 2020. The oldest Gen Zers are about 24 years old, so they’re starting their adult lives and careers. Expect to see more of this age range enter the market. Baby Boomers made up a small percentage of renters in 2020, and they were the outliers who were more likely to relocate to the suburbs.
2020 Renters: Where Did They Move To?
More than half of renters applied for bigger homes in 2020. This one can be attributed to the pandemic as people were forced to live and work from home. The study found that while there could be a high cost of living, mega-cities continued to appeal to renters. Out of the Top 100 Cities for Inbound Renter Migration, Austin made number 11. The #1 Origin City was Round Rock, as 6.1% of moves were from this city. What is also notable is how Austin attracts more out-of-state renters than other popular Texas cities.
Austin ranked the highest at 40% for out-of-state renters who relocated in 2020 and came from a different state. Next up was San Antonio at 33% and Houston at 30%. Same-state newcomers are coming from Round Rock, Houston, and San Antonio. Out-of-state renters came from New York City as number one, then Columbus, Ohio. 52% of renters applied for spacious homes on East Riverside, Oltorf, Northwest, and Far North in the city.
June 2020 was the most popular month for renter’s interest in Austin apartments, based on rental applications. The least amount of interest in 2020 was April, followed by March.
If you’re looking to rent your property in Austin, contact us! Reach out to us anytime at info@sagewilson.com or (512) 828-7074.
