In the national picture, not much has changed since January — at least in terms of rent prices. According to a midyear rent report by rental listing service Abodo, although national median one-bedroom rent prices dipped a bit in February and March, they’ve since risen back up to $1,016 for a 0 percent change since January.

But everything's bigger in Texas, and, unfortunately, that’s spilled into rent increases as well. The median one-bedroom rent in the Lone Star State has increased an average of 1.12 percent per month in the first six months of 2017, to $905. As far as statewide increases go, Texas’ is fairly tame, especially compared with South Carolina’s 7.34 percent. But an increase is never welcome news — except, perhaps, to property managers. Nearly every Southern state, save for Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Alabama, saw their rents rise as well.

Largely, it’s been a mixed bag for Texans. Some cities have enjoyed decreases — such as Lubbock, down 2.6 percent — or relatively stable rents, such as Austin, down just 0.1 percent.

Second only to Houston, Dallas has had one of the largest rent leaps in Texas. Since January, one-bedroom rents in Dallas have gone up 2.5 percent — for the 12th largest jump in the country — and in the past month, that increase has been even more stark. One-bedroom rent prices went up 4 percent between June and July, while two-bedroom rents jumped 5.8 percent.

Although Fort Worth saw Texas’ fourth-largest average monthly decrease for rent, its price has remained largely stable for the first half of 2017, rising an average of less than 1 percent per month. This overall price decrease is despite two consecutive months of relatively large increases: 4.37 percent for June, and 5.41 percent for July. These jumps are offset, however, by three solid months of decreases from February through April.

In January, one-bedrooms in Fort Worth rented for $840, which reached a year low of $796 in April, before jumping up to their current high of $884. Two-bedroom rents followed a similar path, reaching a low of $969 in May before creeping up to $1,060 in July, the year’s high to date.

The trend looks poised to continue, especially as we approach fall, when many TCU students will lock in their rentals for the school year and further tighten the market.