To understand the concerns over multifamily, all it takes is a stroll through the numbers in Newmark's 2024 Q1 United States Multifamily Capital Markets Report. Inventories and operating costs are up, rent growth is negative, and $669 billion in loans, many "in a very different environment than when they were originally issued," will mature from 2024 to 2026.

But countervailing trends will slow a flood of competition and increase the critical role apartments play in national housing, and the increased demand that will help absorb the excess.

"New supply continues to break records as 135,652 units were delivered in the first quarter of 2024, breaking the previous largest quarterly sum in the fourth quarter of 2023," Newmark wrote. Vacancies have grown for the ninth consecutive quarter, reaching 5.9%. "Meanwhile, quarterly rent growth declined to negative 0.1% in the first quarter of 2024, while year-over-year growth remained flat at 0.2% for the second quarter consecutively."