According to a NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction, the number of multifamily units completed in 2024 reached its highest level since 1986, with 608,000 units.
For the seventh consecutive year, the majority of multifamily apartments were located in buildings with 50 or more units (referred to as high-density buildings).
As demonstrated below, this is a relatively new trend. Since the series’s inception in 1972, the majority of multifamily units have been located in buildings with fewer than 50 units.
Of the 608,000 multifamily units completed in 2024, 330,000 (54%) were in high-density structures, with the remaining 278,000 (46%) in low-medium density buildings.
Regional distribution
The South remained the top region in terms of unit completions, increasing from 212,000 in 2023 to 292,000 in 2024.
The South accounted for 48% of total completions, while the West had 27% (163,000), the Midwest 14% (87,000), and the Northeast 11% (68,000).
The South was the only region where the number of units completed in low-medium density buildings exceeded that of high-density buildings.
The South saw 147,000 completions in low-medium density, compared to 145,000 in high-density.
In contrast, in the Midwest and Northeast, the number of units in high-density buildings has roughly doubled that of low-medium density buildings.
The Midwest had 58,000 units in high-density buildings and 29,000 low-medium density units. The Northeast contained 45,000 high-density units and 23,000 low-to-medium density units.
The West had an almost 50/50 distribution, with 82,000 high-density units and 81,000 low-medium density.
Built-for-Rent
95% of multifamily apartments completed in 2024 were built for rent, with a total of 580,000. More than half of these units (55%) were in buildings with 50 or more units.
This represents a seismic shift toward high-density structures, as this figure was just 25% in 2004.
Over the last twenty years, the share of units in buildings with 10-19 units has steadily decreased, from 24% in 2004 to 4% in 2024.
Built-for-Sale
The number of multifamily units created for sale increased from 20,000 in 2023 to 29,000 by 2024.
High-density buildings remained the most common kind of building where these apartments were constructed, with 40% of built-for-sale units finished in buildings with 50 or more units.
This share increased from 28% in 2023. The highest decline in market share for multifamily built-for-sale units occurred in buildings with 10-19 units, which fell from 23% in 2023 to 13% in 2024.
[Read more about this topic on Eyeonhousing.org]