5. Downtown Houston
Apartment developers have returned to Houston, which has finally recovered from the shock of falling oil prices a few years ago that sent the apartment market into a tailspin.
Developers opened 2,473 new apartments in the River Oaks neighborhood and downtown Houston over the year that ended in the second quarter of 2018, according to Marcus & Millichap. That makes the neighborhoods the fifth biggest submarket in the U.S. for new apartment construction.
People who lost homes to Hurricane Harvey in 2017 helped fill the empty units. Apartment vacancy in Houston fell to 6.3 percent in the second quarter from 9.1 percent the year before, according to Marcus & Millichap. Improved job growth also helped fuel demand for apartments.