Houston has a total of 441,660 units citywide. The third quarter accounting puts occupancy at 92.5%, up 0.5% from the second quarter. "This is the highest occupancy recorded in Houston since September of 1998," say CB Richard Ellis researchers. Rental rates is riding at 71.7 cents per sf in comparison to 70.1 cents per sf in the last quarter. The report confirms rates rose in but one of the thirty-nine submarkets. And that, says researchers, conveys a message that Houston definitely is a solid multifamily market.

Submarket leaders for the third quarter are the Bear Creek-Copperfield, 96.9%; Inner Loop West-Greenway Plaza, 96.2%; Medical Center-Bellaire, 96.3%; southwest, 94.1%; and the northwest corridor, 93.8%.