The U.S. multifamily market remains a busy one, according to Berkadia’s 2024 Mid-Year National Multifamily Report.
One key trend? Renters are continuing to flock to apartment units. In its report, Berkadia said that apartment leasing increased this year with about 257,100 net units absorbed across the United States in the first half of 2024.
How impressive is that? This six-month total already surpassed the 222,000 net apartment units absorbed in all of last year.
With demand high, it’s not surprising that developers have continued to bring new apartment units to the market. Berkadia said that nearly 283,700 market-rate units began lease-up in the first half of 2024. This six-month output has already beaten the annual average in the decade leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Texas led all states in apartment unit deliveries in the first six months of 2024, adding nearly 52,000 multifamily units in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Houston markets. At the same time, about 146,400 multifamily units were under construction or in the lease-up phase for these three key Texas markets.
The increase in apartment deliveries hasn’t caused multifamily vacancy rates to rise much. Berkadia reported that Leasing activity nearly kept pace with the inflow of apartment inventory as occupancy averaged 94.2% in the second quarter of 2024, the same rate at the close of 2023.
Thanks to high demand, landlords have been able to increase rents, too, though at a slower rate. According to Berkadia, effective apartment rents across the country increased 1.2% during the first half of this year.
Tempering this has been an increase in concessions. According to Berkadia, one out of every five apartment units in the United States offered some level of concessions in the second quarter of 2024.
