After delivering a record volume of apartment supply during 2024 that pushed occupancy down slightly, as renters search for higher quality properties. As a result, the US apartment market ended the year close to historically normal occupancy levels, according to a RealPage report.
Demand rebounded significantly during the year, catching up to the record supply by the end of the year, said the report. As a result, occupancy bounced back to 94.8%, which is in line with the apartment market’s long-term norm from the 2010s.
Class B stock, which makes up about half of the country’s apartment inventory, drove much of the occupancy rebound in conventional apartment stock in 2024, overtaking Class C units to become the tightest asset class. From 2010 through the early pandemic, Class C units were typically the most occupied product class. However, occupancy in Class B stock ended 2024 at 95%, ahead of Class C at 94.8%, with Class A even lower at 94.5%.
All three asset classes logged average occupancy lower than their five-year averages leading up to the pandemic but showed improvement during the past year, noted the report. Class B occupancy increased 80 basis points during 2024, while Class A and Class C units grew 50 bps each for the year.