Most D-FW Apartment Residents Are Keeping Up With Their Rent
So far, North Texas apartment renters are doing a good job of keeping up with rent payments during the coronavirus crisis. But industry analysts acknowledge it’s too early to gauge the full impact of the pandemic. Almost 87% of Dallas-Fort Worth apartment renters have made their April payments as of this week, according to data from Richardson-based RealPage. That’s down from a 92.5% rate at this time a year ago.
“Areas where the economy is heavy on corporate jobs in business services and technology generally are seeing households pay their rent at close to normal levels,” said Greg Willett, RealPage’s top economist. “Those types of jobs can convert to a work-from-home environment fairly easily. In contrast, there’s a payment lag in spots with lots of hospitality and retail jobs that have just disappeared.”
Apartment analysts have been surprised that so many renters have made their April payments. But they warn that it’s early in the pandemic. “April payment results are a little above the results that I expected, given the size of the nation’s recent layoffs,” Willett said. “May and June could bring more challenges, but state unemployment checks and additional federal benefits will be coming in for most workers who have lost their jobs.”
Nationwide, 84% of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by April 12, according to a just-released survey from the National Multifamily Housing Council. In April 2019, 90% of apartment tenants had paid their April rents.
“We are pleased to see that it appears that the vast majority of apartment residents who can pay their rent are doing so to help ensure that their properties can continue to operate safely and so apartment owners can help residents who legitimately need help,” Doug Bibby, president of the apartment trade group, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, unemployment levels are continuing to rise, and delays have been reported in getting assistance to residents, which could affect May’s rent levels.
“It is our hope that, as residents begin receiving the direct payments and the enhanced unemployment benefits the federal government passed, we will continue to see improvements in rent payments.”
Around the country, the newer, more expensive apartments have had a higher payment rate. “As you would expect, more expensive Class A properties, whose resident base may be more able to work from home, are reporting much higher percentage of rent payments than operators of more affordable workforce properties whose residents are more likely to have had their incomes disrupted because of the pandemic,” David Schwartz, National Multifamily Housing Council chair and CEO of Chicago-based apartment firm Waterton, said in the report...
