Affordable housing affects HQ locations

apartments and other factors, has led to sky-high rents.

Housing’s affordability crisis has spread beyond the coasts, Jeffrey Brodsky, vice chairman of New York-based Related Cos., said at the conference.

“It’s not just San Francisco, Seattle,” Brodsky said. “It’s a serious problem in many parts of the country.”

In Houston, which saw the apartment market bolstered by Hurricane Harvey, rents are up 5.3 percent over the past year to $1,029, according to a June report from ApartmentData.com. Occupancy is nearly 90 percent.

A recent increase in so-called lifestyle renters — or renters by choice — has fueled construction of high-end units for affluent renters in urban neighborhoods.

As a result of higher housing costs, companies are moving to cities with more affordable options, said Robert Hart, CEO of Los Angeles-based TruAmerica Multifamily.

Goldman Sachs, he noted, has a large back-office operation in Salt Lake City.

Las Vegas, Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and major Texas metros, too, are becoming attractive to corporations seeking more affordable housing for their workers.

“Texas has been a huge repository of companies,” Hart said, citing Toyota’s recent relocation to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. “Texas is a no (income) tax state and has a lot of affordable housing.”

Older units being torn down or otherwise taken off the market is exacerbating the problem.

Experts cited supply concerns as young adults, who had increasingly been living with their parents after the last recession, move out on their own.

“We have a fair bit of pent-up demand,” Walter said. “And when they do decide to move out, will they move to an apartment or a house?”