Large multifamily buildings account for a growing share of U.S. rental housing, reflecting a long-term shift toward denser rental living as single-family rentals fall to their lowest share on record, according to a Redfin analysis.
About 33.1% of renter-occupied housing units in the United States are located in large multifamily buildings, compared with 31% in single-family homes, 27.3% in small multifamily properties and 8.5% in townhomes. Large apartment buildings surpassed single-family homes as the most common form of rental housing in 2022, amid a surge in multifamily construction during the pandemic-era moving boom, Redfin said.
Ultra-low interest rates during that period made it easier for developers to finance new rental construction as demand surged. Although both multifamily and single-family construction rose following the Great Recession, multifamily development has grown faster, particularly during the pandemic.
"Big apartment buildings make up a growing piece of the rental-market pie because America has been building a lot of them, which has made them more affordable for renters," said Redfin Senior Economist Asad Khan. "Increased supply gives renters more options and more room to negotiate prices. While multifamily construction has slowed recently, there are still more apartments for rent than people who want to rent them, which has kept rent growth at bay."
Construction of large multifamily buildings hit a record in 2024, while single-family home construction remains below levels seen during the early-2000s housing boom. Most newly built single-family homes are sold to owner-occupants rather than renters, the report said. At the same time, homeowners who locked in ultra-low mortgage rates during the pandemic have been reluctant to move as housing costs rose sharply, further limiting the supply of single-family rentals.
Only about 14% of single-family homes, roughly 11.3 million units, are renter-occupied, the lowest share in records dating back to 2011. By comparison, there are 12.1 million rental units in large multifamily buildings, the highest level on record, along with 10 million units in small multifamily properties and 3.1 million townhome rentals.
The mix varies widely by metro. In New York, 69.1% of rentals are located in large multifamily buildings, the highest share among the 50 most populous U.S. metros. Minneapolis, Seattle, Miami and Boston also rank among markets with the highest concentration of large apartment rentals. At the other end of the spectrum, Virginia Beach has the lowest share at 22.6%, followed by Cincinnati, Detroit and Riverside, California.
Growth in large multifamily rentals has been most pronounced in the Sun Belt, where development activity has been strongest. In Dallas, 46.3% of rentals are now in large multifamily buildings, up from 29.2% in 2014, representing the largest increase among major metros. Phoenix, Atlanta, Jacksonville and Seattle also recorded double-digit percentage-point gains. No metro posted a decline over the period.
By contrast, the share of single-family rentals has fallen across nearly all major markets. Only Philadelphia and Anaheim saw slight increases over the past decade, while metros such as Phoenix, Charlotte, Tampa, Orlando and Seattle recorded the steepest declines.
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