Over the last 10 years, the least expensive apartment category — the efficiency/studio — has seen the greatest jump in price in North Texas, soaring by nearly 80 percent, a new report found.

That's an indication of developer interest in building larger apartment units but only adds to the woes of consumers, especially recent college graduates, who need entry-level housing.

In late 2008, near the beginning of the most recent economic meltdown, an efficiency apartment in the Dallas area went for an average of $481 a month and measured 476 square feet, according to ApartmentData.com.

Fast-forward to late 2018. The average efficiency rent had ballooned to $863 a month for a unit that's about 511 square feet, ApartmentData.com figures show.

The gain in size is 7.4 percent. The jump in price is 79.4 percent, a hike that can be blamed in part on the size of the market for efficiency units.

There were nearly 714,000 apartments of all sizes in North Texas in November, according to ApartmentData.com. Of those, only 18,908, or about 2.6 percent, were efficiencies.

By comparison, one- and two-bedroom apartments made up 90 percent of the market, and each saw price increases closer to 50 percent over the past 10 years.

A study from the Richardson-based apartment firm RealPage showed that North Texas apartment builders opened almost 26,000 rental units in 2018. But ApartmentData.com stats show that efficiencies saw the smallest increase in supply since 2008.

Nearly 6,000 studio units were added over the 10 years, compared with 85,286 new one-bedroom apartments and 46,251 new two-bedroom units.

A big boost in supply works to keep prices lower.

High-end emphasis

Across the apartment spectrum, developers are adding more girth and high-end touches, such as granite countertops, to new units, said Bruce McClenny, president of ApartmentData.com.

That adds to developer costs, which translates into higher rents. Those higher rents for the newer units are pulling the overall average up, he said.

"What's driving price is this ultra-high-end [offering]. You know, that really high-priced, high-rise type unit like SkyHouse Dallas [or] Carlisle & Vine," said McClenny, referring to two luxe properties just north of downtown.

The 24-story SkyHouse Dallas rental tower opened in 2015 on Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Victory Park. Efficiencies there measure about 600 square feet and range in price from $1,310 to $1,345 a month, according to the building's website.

At Carlisle & Vine, which began renting in October, the largest studio measures almost 700 square feet and has a starting price of $2,025 a month, according to the building's website. That's 45 percent higher than the average rent for a three-bedroom apartment locally, based on ApartmentData.com stats.

"So some of these really brand new, ultra-high-end kinds of properties that are thrown into this mix, you know, are really driving the price [average]," he said.

Price challenges

McClenny noted that lower rents can be found in older properties and properties in some suburban areas, such as Garland.

Living farther out can make accessing jobs in the heart of the city more challenging, said Christie Myers, managing director of Opportunity Dallas, a local nonprofit that works to increase the amount of affordable housing.

Myers said she mentors a junior at Texas A&M University who frets about where she will live when she graduates. The student took public transportation 70 minutes one way to a job at McDonald's when she was living with her mom in southern Dallas.

The challenge, Myers said, to find a place that's "safe, reasonable and has public transportation" because she doesn't have a car.

"Her story shows so many different layers [of] the real challenge," Myers added. "I don't think that I am describing rare cases in this city anymore, unfortunately. That [applies to] a lot of folks who are coming out of college. And these are people with college degrees who are trying to live, work and play in Dallas. And in a lot of ways, it seems inaccessible."

Myers and McClenny agreed that the pricing challenge stretches beyond one apartment category or even one city.

"There's no doubt there's an affordability crisis all up and down the spectrum, not just

," added McClenny.

Said Myers: "I read probably a dozen articles a day across the country of cities and regions and states that are dealing with these very same challenges. We're at a place where we have to be radical in our thinking [to determine] what are we going to do as a solution."

Twitter: @krobijake