Signs of a softening for-sale home market are making some worry about a larger economic downturn, and apartment rent growth has faltered, growing less this year than in the past. That being said, apartment market performance varies considerably from region to region. Midwest and Northeast markets have rent growth close to 3-3.5%, while the South and West are less than 1% (and sometimes negative). Apartment construction trends point to a more balanced market as 2025 moves into 2026, but higher supply markets may take longer to get to this equilibrium.

Multifamily, the Nation, and the Economy

May 2025 National Rent Report: Unseasonable Slowdown

Apartment List: May’s weaker rent growth “marks an inflection point, following six months in which year-over-year rent growth nationally had gradually ticked up from -0.8 percent to -0.3 percent (last month’s reading). The rebound that we had been seeing has stalled out just as year-over-year growth was approaching positive territory for the first time since mid-2023.”

• Experts Warn Housing Could Be the Tipping Point for the Next Recession (GlobeSt) 
   
• New Tax Bill May Bolster CRE Investment Climate (Marcus & Millichap)
  
• May 2025 Affordable Housing Report: When Do Affordable Property Loans Come Due? (Yardi Matrix)

Multifamily and the Housing Market

Multifamily Capital Markets Report: Strong Absorption, Imperfect Fundamentals

Colliers: This report’s title says that “Fundamentals Strengthen,” but with lower-than-average rent growth at 1%, the apartment market has room to improve. And, with a substantial amount of multifamily loan maturities in 2025, there may be further shifts in the sales market as 2025 progresses.

• Mortgage Applications Dip in May amid Refinance Slowdown (NAHB)
   
• ‘Zombie’ Foreclosures Are On the Rise—See Which States Are Hardest Hit (Realtor.com)
   
• Deed and Title Fraud Survey (NAR)
   
• June 2025 Home Price Insights: “[E]xternal pressures continue to weigh on price growth across the nation” (Cotality)

Multifamily Markets and Reports

May Occupancy Holds as Rent Recovery Falters

RealPage: “[M]onthly effective rent growth reached 0.26% in May, a mild reading that registered at about half the rate seen in May 2024 (0.51%). As such, annual effective rent growth appeared to backtrack, softening from last month’s 1% reading to stand at 0.7% in May.”

• 1 in 11 Millionaires Now Rents, Southern Metro Areas Become Hotspots for Luxury Living (RentCafe)
    
• Apartment Construction Permits Data (Apartment List)
   
• The Evolving Landscape of Social Housing in New England: What We Learned (Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies)

Commercial Real Estate and the Macro Economy

Early Warnings of CRE Price Problems

Via MSCI: “Positive momentum was reflected in key performance metrics: new leasing activity surged, net absorption soared to its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2023, and the development pipeline fell below 300 MSF for the first time since 2019.”

• Q1 2025 Office Investment & Leasing (Colliers)
   
• H1 2025 Single-Tenant Net Lease Report (Institutional Property Advisors)
   
• May 2025 CRE Report: Industrial “recalibrating,” Multifamily “stabilizing” (NAR)

Other Real Estate News and Reports

May 2025 National Industrial Report: Data Centers Boom but Questions Remain

Via Yardi Matrix: ” [I]t is not a given that [data center] demand will continue to grow at this pace over the next decade. Issues around resource usage, return on investment, model accuracy and legal challenges will determine if AI reshapes the economy as we know it or if its uses will be more narrow.”

• U.S. Hospitality Outlook Report | 2025 (Colliers)
    
• May 2025 Real Estate Investment Conditions & Trends (Cushman & Wakefield)
   
• Conversions & Demolitions Reducing U.S. Office Supply (CBRE)