Multifamily Six-Year Streak of Gains Ends

Multifamily unit completions declined in 2018, ending a six-year streak of gains. But the number of completions is still higher than the number before the Great Recession. For the units that are built, focus is on large-scale buildings of 50 units or more as smaller projects are on the decline.

For only the second year since the Great Recession, multifamily unit completions declined in 2018, according to NAHB analysis of the latest annual multifamily data from the Survey of Construction (SOC).

As is typical, the number of multifamily units completed for rent exceeds the number of units completed for sale (92% rental share). In 2018, the number of units completed for-rent summed to 318,000 and multifamily for-sale units equaled 27,000, totaling 345,000 units completed. This marks a decline of 13,000 units from 2017. The net decline is attributed to a reduction in the number of units completed for rent, only partially offset by an increase of 5,000 units for sale.

Read More