President’s Corner – A thank you

By JOHN BORIACK, 2021 HAA President

AT THE START OF 2021, WE WERE SUPER EAGER FOR #COMEBACKSEASON.

We were hit with a few curveballs this year, such as Winter Storm Uri, the Delta variant, supply chain issues and a labor shortage, but as an entire industry, we absolutely crushed it. I’m so proud of the way our industry has adapted to face any challenge it gets hit with and how it has rebounded.

From the end of the third quarter in 2020 to 2021’s third quarter, Houston experienced a 12.8% rent growth. That’s the best 12-month trailing growth we have ever seen, according to ApartmentData.com. Occupancy rates are booming, too. Every property seems to be fuller than before the pandemic and the data proves that to be very true. The only other time we’ve experienced such an extreme high level of absorption was in 2005 when thousands of people relocated to Houston following Hurricane Katrina.

Overall, Houston’s economy has rebounded as well, and quicker than other parts of the country. Over the last 12 months, the Houston economy added 148,100 new jobs, which is the best 12-month performance since 1991, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We’ve watched the economy and the apartment market begin to recover, and it feels like we are going to continue on this path through 2022. Bruce McClenny with ApartmentData.com goes into much greater detail about Houston’s economy and apartment market on Page 28. You can read what he predicts for 2022.

I also want to give some recognition to the Houston Apartment Association. We somehow pulled off the HAA Installation Gala in June, an HAA Education Conference and Expo in September, the HAA Chili Cookoff in October and the HAA Honors Awards in November with about 900 attendees. It was so great to be back in person for all of these major HAA events. And, despite a financially challenging year for everyone, HAA raised $77,804 in fundraising from HAA events alone for the HAA Political Action Committee.

It was another year filled with challenges, but our local industry has proved to be one of the best in the country. Houston remained one of the only cities in the country that never had its own eviction moratorium. Instead, because of HAA’s influence, we were able to help the city develop a successful rental assistance program that was modeled by other communities around the nation.

As I look to 2022, I know HAA will be in incredibly capable hands under the leadership of Christy Rodriguez (Judwin Properties). She has already been an incredible asset to HAA as secretary/treasurer in 2020 and to me as president-elect this year. She was fantastic at keeping up with the heartbeat of members at a grassroots level this year, and it was extremely valuable to me.

No matter what challenges we face in 2022, I can guarantee Christy and the HAA team will deliver a positive, uplifting energy that will be felt throughout the association.