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Residents looking for new apartments have entered the market in Bryan-College Station at a prime time.
With competition tightening due to recent market trends, apartment managers are offering perks to residents who are quick to sign a lease.
In Bryan-College Station, the average occupancy rate of apartment units fell from
94.3 percent in the first quarter to 93 percent in the third quarter this year, according to Apartment Realty Advisors, a national advisory brokerage firm with an office in Austin.
Average rent was $866 for a unit averaging 884 square feet, according to the report, while rent growth from the first to the third quarter was 0.35 percent.
Kelly Witherspoon, a transaction manager for Apartment Realty Advisors, said the decrease in occupancy and the relatively low rent growth could be attributed to simple supply and demand: More units are available than renters need.
"Whenever the supply of rental units is growing faster than the demand for those units, vacancy rates will rise," he said.
"Class A" properties -- such as the newer complexes, which typically offer amenities such as fitness and business centers -- will most likely feel the effects first because competition for those properties will increase, Witherspoon said.
"Lesser property classes experience a trickle-down effect as tenants begin taking advance of market weakness and trading up to newer, nicer properties," he said. "If you are an owner in the market, it definitely causes some concern."
Apartment owners have to juggle rents and occupancy rates to keep their heads above water, he said. This can be particularly tricky for student properties because, unlike conventional properties, they don't market year-round to families and blue-collar workers, he said.
"The majority of leases in a student market expire during the summer, and there is a limited pre-leasing window in the spring to sign leases for the following school year," Witherspoon said. "During this pre-leasing period, pricing can change quickly and is often very inefficient, leading to big disparities in how comparable properties lease up."
In order to attract renters, Witherspoon said, many apartments offer perks to those who sign a lease promptly, including a free month's rent in some cases.
Justin Bibb -- a leasing consultant at Wave's
Z-Islander on Wellborn Road in Bryan, a newly built complex that opened in May -- said it had been offering $300 off rent September through November and would waive the administration fee if tenants signed a lease immediately.
Despite being at about 50 percent occupancy, Bibb said, the apartment has reached its capacity goal for the first year.
By offering students a unique island concept complete with palm trees and poolside cabanas, Bibb said, the complex should be at full capacity by May.
"We already have people signed up for next year," he said. "For us, we expect to be competitive because we are newer and one of the nicer properties. We offer more than other properties do."
Bibb said rents range from $590 per room for a four-bedroom unit to $724 for a studio unit. Each unit comes fully furnished with televisions and includes high-speed Internet access, cable and pest control.
Prices are subject to increase somewhat when the apartment starts marketing to students for the next school year, Bibb said, although he didn't know by how much.
The apartment grounds include amenities such as a sports theater room, a game suite, poker tables, a cafe, a parlor and a large pool, all designed to promote the relaxed atmosphere of the beach-style apartments.
You couldn't feel farther from the beach when you enter The Lofts at Wolf Pen Creek, which opened in August. The apartment promotes "upscale student living," on its Web site by offering amenities such as a spa, an outdoor fireplace and tanning rooms, and the stucco-and-brick exterior gives off a big-city feel.
Other amenities include a pool, a game room, a fitness facility, a cardio mezzanine, a theater room with stadium seating, a cafe, a business center complete with conference rooms, and outdoor grills.
Another unique feature of the complex is the retail space available on the grounds. Although no business has opened there yet, apartment officials said two restaurants and a yogurt shop will open there in December.
Apartment manager David Lindsey said at 95 percent occupancy, business is doing "pretty well," for which he credits his employees.
"A lot of it has to do with the staff being able to show residents what we have to offer," he said. "We have a great product and a great staff of people to communicate that."
Lindsey said perks are a matter of timing, and they are typically most effective when students begin to look for a place to live for the next school year, which his staff has started to do. The apartment is offering to waive all signing fees to people who sign a lease within 48-hours of being showed the property, he said.
"We will really start hitting it hard in a couple months," he said. "Usually people aren't looking this early."
Rent at The Lofts ranges from $519 per room for a four-bedroom to $1,089 for a two-bedroom. All units come furnished with televisions, and rent includes all bills paid.
Witherspoon said supply and demand of the market will begin to balance once Texas A&M University's enrollment catches up to the supply in the market.
"Enrollment growth at Texas A&M is irrelevant if supply continues to outpace demand," he said. "Construction needs to stop for a couple years to allow the current inventory to catch up. The lack of financing available for new construction projects will naturally slow down the new supply."
Until then, Witherspoon said, he expects to see "softness in rent growth and occupancies."
