The DFW region remains in the top three growth markets nationally, says Greg Willett, M/PF's director of research products. New supply, he adds, will be easily absorbed "as long as the economy doesn't crater."

Overall, Willett says, "it's a market with slowing construction that opens the door for potential market tightening in the near term." The 95.5% occupancy posted in early 2001 had been the highest recorded since the late 1970s. Demand of 18,600 units kept ahead of the 15,080 deliveries, resulting in a point gain in occupancy in the past year. At the second quarter close, average occupancy had registered 95.2%, a slip from the first quarter but still rosy numbers for building owners.

The analysis shows a shift in the demand areas, with northeast Tarrant County emerging as the region's newest hotspot. It's an untested multifamily submarket, but new product is rising from the ground in what "has been kind of an overlooked market," Willett tells GlobeSt.com. Of the 12,781 units under construction across the region, 3,300 are in the northeast Tarrant County communities of Euless, Grapevine, Keller, Haltom City and North Richland Hills. Plenty of open land to develop, a rising favorite landing spot for new employers and quality of life in its retail and single-family neighborhoods are giving rise to the northeastern shift from Southwest Ft. Worth, West Plano, Lewisville, Las Colinas-Valley Ranch, Grand Prairie and South Arlington. Two of those markets have no new construction while the remainder have less than 300 units in the works.