Although the two markets are often in conflict, renting and owning are both on the rise in Houston.

The Houston real estate market is undergoing an interesting phenomenon. The apartments and housing sectors, long antagonistic in analysts’ eyes, are both on the rise.

Single-family homes sales for September were up 16.9 percent from last year, while the Houston Real Estate Observer reported late last month that  6,234 new apartment units are under construction in the Houston area.

“Things are all good right now,” said Stacy Hunt, executive director of Greystar Real Estate Partners, in the Houston Real Estate Observer piece. “Rents are going up. Concessions are going down. Locator fees are going down.”

Overall apartment occupancy in Houston was at 88.34 percent in August, up 1.27 percent from the year before, according to the O’Connor & Associates real estate data firm.

The Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) credits the increase in rental demand to the area’s positive job growth, as 65,000 jobs were gained in the greater Houston area between August 2010 and 2011.

On the homeownership front, HAR’s Chairman, Carlos P. Bujosa, said September’s sales data is indicative of a strong market, one operating outside of unnatural forces.

“The combination of increased closed and pending sales, fewer active listings and strong pricing suggests that we are entering the fall home buying season on strong footing,” Bujosa said. “HAR’s September report shows rebalanced supply and demand throughout the Houston housing market with diminishing traces of the distortions caused by last year’s federal home buyer tax credit.”