Apartment demand across the country easily outpaced record new supply and neared its highest level in more than three decades last year, according to RealPage. Three-quarters of the nation’s 50 largest apartment markets saw demand outpace current supply, and five of those areas had excess demand exceeding 3,000 units.
RealPage said nearly 589,000 units came online across the country last year, while nearly 667,000 were absorbed, creating excess demand of 77,800 units. This is notable as new supply was at a 50-year high in 2024.
Much of the excess demand occurred in the West and South, possessing demand for 29,808 units and 25,506 units respectively. The Midwest and Northeast regions' demand also exceeded new supply levels, at 14,368 units and 8,132 units respectively.
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Washington, D.C., absorbed 21,928 units last year while supply totaled 14,187 units. While demand there ranked 6th in the country and supply volume ranked 12th, the 7,741 units of excess demand in the nation’s capital was the most of any market. Because of this, occupancy in the district climbed 130 basis points (bps) year-over-year to 96%, the report said.
Houston posted excess demand of 6,849 units in 2024 and occupancy of 93.8%, up 120 bps. The market had new supply of 25,076 units and absorbed 31,925 units. This ranked Houston at No. 2 nationally for demand and 4th for supply.
In the West, Las Vegas and Los Angeles were the third and fourth-place markets for excess demand, with Las Vegas absorbing 9,684 units with deliveries reaching 5,367 units and Los Angeles absorbing 9,978 units on supply of 6,868 units. Occupancy rose 200 bps in Las Vegas to 94.6% and 30 bps in Los Angeles to 95.4%.
The only other large market with excess demand of more than 3,000 units was Indianapolis, said RealPage. The market absorbed 9,485 units while 6,404 units came online, creating 3,081 units of excess demand. Occupancy in Indianapolis was 95%, a 200 bps year-over-year increase.
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
