NEWS AND COMMENT: As I understand it, it is expensive to purchase property in Austin, Texas because of the success of big businesses in that city followed by an influx of people and therefore greater demand for properties. So, the prices go up but the good news is that out of a hundred cities listed by a website called Zillow, Austin Texas comes out top as the friendliest city for property renters because their cats and dogs can join them.
It is refreshing to me when landlords allow a cat or dog owner to rent their apartments. I’ve always said that it makes sense because they dramatically increase their market and reduce the possibility of having void periods during which there is no rental income. A good deposit system eliminates the risk of damage to the property by pets.
In Austin Texas, 80.8% of rental listings allow pets. Below is the full list of the top 10 pet-friendliest cities for renters. Source: Zillow which also reported that “Nationally, 59% of renters in 2022 reported having at least one pet, up from 46% in 2019.” This is good news, but it is not enough. My thanks to Nathan Winograd for this information.
- Austin, Texas – 80.8% of rental listings allow pets
- Dallas, Texas – 78%
- Fort Worth, Texas – 77.2%
- Charlotte, North Carolina – 76.6%
- Denver, Colorado – 76.5%
- San Antonio, Texas – 75.8%
- Indianapolis, Indiana – 74.7%
- Kansas City, Missouri – 73.4%
- Seattle, Washington – 73.1%
- New York City – 72.2%
There is always a decision to be made about either renting or buying property. For occupiers/investors, clearly buying is better than renting. But often the market price prevents people purchasing. In Austin, it is currently much cheaper to rent than purchase according to a real estate database company ATTOM.
RELATED: Renting a Property with Pets
Austin is a good place to buy a property because prices are rising faster than wages. Unfortunately, it is reported that rents are going up as well to the point where they are becoming unaffordable to some residents. An apartment of 875 ft² rents out at $1,500 a month. At least you’ll be able to take your cat or dog with you.
As mentioned, the city is attracting people with high salaries to work at Facebook, Google, Apple and Tesla. These businesses allow landlords to put up the rental prices which is going to shut out people on average salaries. I don’t know but I wonder whether there are more people with cats and dogs on average salaries compared to those on high salaries.
The possibility is that high salaried people are shutting out people with pets from renting in Austin, Texas. That is speculative and I’m just discussing the issue generally. I would welcome comments on this.
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London, UK, is experiencing a similar phenomenon with rental prices increasing rapidly. This shuts out younger people and many are already prevented from purchasing because property prices rose rapidly after Covid. This leads to more young people living with their parents.
The knock-on effect is probably that there are less cat and dog adoptions by young people. Although Covid resulted in a surge in cat and dog adoptions generally. The effects of Covid are still being felt in many ways in the UK and I expect something similar to be happening in the USA.
