According to data compiled by Apartment Data Services and provided to theHouston Press by the Houston Apartment Association, 89.1 percent of Houston’s approximately 639,000 apartment units were occupied just before Harvey hit, leaving about 70,000 vacant and most of those — 26,000 — in luxury apartments. Andy Teas, vice president of public affairs for the Apartment Association, said that Harvey’s damage is still being assessed and so numbers are far from certain, but that estimates have ranged between 40,000 and 100,000 units being flooded — including an untold number of vacant units.
Even if the damage is minor, Teas said there’s no telling how long repairs will take given the sheer magnitude of demand for the limited labor, meaning many people may need assistance for longer. And of course it’s not just apartment dwellers who will be seeking temporary apartments and repairs; it’s homeowners — in every part of the county.
Both Teas and Gunsolley said this is bound to put immense pressure on the rental market and worsen Houston’s already-acute affordable housing crisis, especially given that most vacancies are in the upscale Class A housing market. Even in the Class C markets, Gunsolley said, landlords who invest heavily in repairs are going to want to charge more for rent to make up for the losses.
“Somebody who needs a one-bedroom apartment for $600 a month, they already had a hard time finding an apartment like that before the flood,” Gunsolley said. “After the flood, it could be impossible to find a unit like that. I don’t know if I’m being overly dramatic, because nobody has a full assessment yet of what we’re talking about. That’s apart of FEMA’s job, collecting all of that information.”