The multifamily market continues to follow similar rent growth and occupancy trends as last year, and while a drop in apartment construction is expected to lead to improved multifamily performance in 2026, the current state of the multifamily market continues to be dominated by the recent influx of newly-built apartments. Looking beyond the national numbers, however, there is a significant amount of variation among different markets and regions, and markets in the South and West, where the enormous amount of recent apartment construction continues to dampen multifamily performance, are pulling down the national averages, while markets in the Northeast and Midwest are moving into a period of higher growth.

Multifamily, the Nation, and the Economy

Report: Predicting the Future of Multifamily

Gray Capital: Gray Capital’s proprietary forecasting model provides a clear look at the future of the multifamily market, utilizing key apartment supply and demand drivers to show investors where and when apartment performance will be the strongest.

• New York’s Housing Crisis Is So Bad That a Socialist Is Poised to Become Mayor (The Wall Street Journal)
   
• More than 50,000 U.S. Apartments Have Been Delayed Since 2018 (RealPage)
   
• July 2025 National Affordable Housing Report: Taking Measure of Affordable Housing Programs (Yardi Matrix)
   
• Best Cities for Renters to Live in 2025: Southern Cities Sweep Top 10 (RentCafe)

Multifamily and the Housing Market

Mapped: Where Americans Are Moving To and From

Realtor.com: “Although interstate migration was the primary engine of population growth in 11 states, mostly located in the South, in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program, net gains from migration dropped in some of these states.”

• Growing Sunbelt Housing Costs in Areas Once Thought Affordable (The Atlantic) 
   
• June 2025 Economic and Housing Outlook (Fannie Mae)
  
• Overview: The Housing Market in April 2025 (NAR)
   
• May Private Residential Construction Spending Dips (NAHB)

Multifamily Markets and Reports

June 2025 Rental Report: Cooldown Continues, but Midwest, Northeast Performing Well

Apartment List: “The fact that we’ve instead seen rent growth get increasingly sluggish indicates softness in the market, possibly reflecting declining consumer confidence amid a more uncertain macroeconomic outlook.”

• Can housing weather choppy economic seas? (John Burns Research and Consulting)
    
• Rent Growth Cools Slightly, Following For-Sale Market’s Lead (Zillow)
   
• Turning New York Offices Into Homes Finally Works. Now There’s a Rent-Freeze Catch. (The Wall Street Journal)

Commercial Real Estate and the Macro Economy

Local Rent Gains and The Big Picture

Via Marcus & Millichap: “While the big picture trends are absolutely relevant, when it comes to commercial real estate investing, local trends can be even more significant.”

• Northeast Industrial Market Adjusts to Reduce Class A Time to Lease (CBRE)
   
• CRE Shows First Signs of Stress From Tariff Uncertainty (GlobeSt)
   
• Northeast Industrial Labor Report (Cushman & Wakefield)

Other Real Estate News and Reports

US home price insights — July 2025

Via Cotality: “Year-over-year price growth dipped to 1.8% in May 2025, down from 5% price growth last May and slowest since the winter of 2012. Seasonal increase in home prices continues to be weak, up 0.3% compared to the month before, and less than half of 0.8% increase typically seen between April and May.”

• The Office Reset: Now May Be the Time to Buy! (Trepp)
    
• Young Adults’ Financial Struggles Reverberate Through CRE (GlobeSt)
   
• Rick Caruso on CRE: We’ll be fine if rates stay around 4.5-5% (CNBC)