Multifamily demand is soaring, reaching 362,000 units during the first three quarters of 2024 and exceeding all full years studied by Cushman & Wakefield other than 2021. The market is nearly 50% above last year’s full-year total, said Sam Tenenbaum, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of multifamily insights.
“The natural question is, where are all these renters coming from?” said Tenenbaum. “It's hard to point to one source of apartment demand. It's always a mix of factors.”
He boiled apartment demand down to three major reasons.
First, resurgent international migration trends in recent years are translating into strong rental household formation. Second, along with a stout labor market and continued real wage growth, renters feel more confident about their financial situations and are willing to form new households. Finally, the for-sale market and for-rent market are extremely out of sync, which is keeping renters from leaving the rental pool, he said.
“This robust demand has kept vacancies flat through the year, while stabilized vacancies are down slightly, meaning the market has likely reached peak vacancy given the supply side shut down,” said Tenenbaum. “If demand holds firm in 2025, we could see an expeditious recovery for the U.S. market.”