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Apartment construction remains at 50-year high in 2024

2024-08-12T17:15:00-04:00

This year will be the first year in U.S. history that more than 500,000 new apartments are constructed, according to a new analysis of the 2024 rental market from RentCafe.

The trend, which is anticipated to abate slightly in 2025, may again resurface by 2028 with exceptions remaining in markets such as Minneapolis and Houston.

Topping the list was the greater New York metro area with 32,935 new units despite the city having permitted its lowest number of new apartments since 2016 last year. Dallas followed closely in second place, with booming Austin, Texas, finishing a distant third. Housing efforts there have struggled to keep pace after demand began to rapidly increase in 2020.

Phoenix came in fourth on the list with 20,141 new units, giving a face to the effects of the construction loophole underpinning its population boom in the face of questions surrounding water scarcity. (Paradoxically, as RentCafe points out, “[a] shift towards sustainability could be one of the reasons...

Residential construction activity declined in 2023, according to new census data

2024-01-19T11:42:00-05:00

Building permits and construction starts for residential projects in the United States declined by approximately 10% in 2023 versus 2022, according to new data by the U.S. Census Bureau. An estimated 1,469,800 housing units were authorized by building permits in 2023, which is 11.7% lower than in 2022. An estimated 1,413,100 housing units were started in 2023, which is 9% lower than the 2022 figure.

In December 2023, the U.S. saw 1,495,000 building permits issued for privately owned housing units, which is 1.9% above the previous month, and 6.1% above December 2022. Specifically, single-family home permit grants were 1.7% above the previous month, while authorization of units in buildings with five units or more was up 1.3% on the previous month.

Image credit: U.S. Census Bureau

With regards to housing starts, December 2023 saw commencement on 1,460,000 units, which is 4.3% below November 2023 but 7.6% above December 2022. Single-family housing starts numbered 1,027,000 units, which ...

Rental apartment construction in the U.S. is at a 50-year high

2023-09-07T13:03:00-04:00

New rental apartment construction in the United States is expected to top a 50-year high in 2023. According to a report by RentCafe, nearly 461,000 units are expected to be delivered across the U.S. this year, meaning that over the past three years, 1.2 million units will have been built and brought to the market.

According to RentCafe’s analysis of Yardi Matrix data, the number of deliveries is expected to remain high until 2025, at which point the impact of current economic uneasiness will filter through to construction.

The New York metro area leads the country in terms of apartment construction, with 33,000 units to be opened in 2023. Almost one-third of the apartments will be located in Brooklyn (9,825), followed by Queens (4,430) and Manhattan (3,770).

Beyond New York, the Dallas metro area is the second most active, with 23,659 new rental units to come to market. The Dallas metro area has seen the most new apartments opened over the last three years, at 76,660 units. Other st...