Apartments across the U.S. are gradually getting smaller, while Texas apartments are growing on average. But Plano is an exception.
According to a recent Rent Cafe study, apartments saw an increase in space during the pandemic, when renters were looking for bigger places to work from home. But the post-pandemic apartment market saw significant fluctuations from year to year, including oscillations in the size of new apartments. The rising demand for additional rentals is affecting the size of new apartments.
In 2022, the average apartment size was 887 square feet, 54 square feet less than 10 years ago. But, the sharpest drop in one year was in 2022, when the average size went from 917 to 887 — a difference of 30 square feet. But Texas seems to be swimming against the tide, with 11 cities having gained space in the last decade. Yet Plano’s new apartments are shrinking in size, facing the 17th steepest drop in size in the country.
Plano’s apartments are still larger than other cities on average, but at the rate of decline, Plano’s are likely to continue shrinking. The average apartment in Plano is 933 square feet, but new apartments are closer to 907 square feet — a drastic drop.
But why is this happening? Collin County in particular is a hot spot for new growth with more businesses and families moving to the area. But with more people and places, comes less space for new apartments to be built, especially with more residents living in apartments.
“The drop in size can be attributed to more studios and one-bedroom apartments entering the market in 2022, reaching a historic share of 57%,” Rent Cafe explained.
Apartment size and rent data were provided by Yardi Matrix, a Rent Cafe sister company specializing in apartment market intelligence and providing up-to-date information on large-scale, multifamily properties of 50 units or more in more than 130 U.S. markets.
