At the same time, occupancy rates have been on a slight decline.

The average asking rent for retail space in Houston is $17.34 per square foot, according to the monthly retail market snapshot by commercial real estate services firm NAI Partners.

That's up by more than $1 per square foot from last year and by about $3 from 2012.

Rents have increased steadily since the Great Recession, and it's generally a good sign for the retail market, said Jason Gaines, retail lead at NAI Partners.

"So if you're Starbucks and you've got a store and it's doing $1 million this year in sales, the hope is the store management looks at it, is that that store grows in its sales as the rent grows," Gaines said. "So the actual sales volume grows commensurate with the rent or hopefully better."

At the same time, occupancy rates have been on a slight decline in the past two years.

Gaines said if that trend continues, it could become a problem for property owners and possibly mean lower rents again.

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