Nearly Three Times More Apartments Absorbed Than Started This Year

The U.S. apartment market is absorbing nearly three times more units than developers are getting off the ground right now, though that ratio is on its way down. Nearly 234,900 new market-rate apartments started construction across the U.S. in the year-ending 3rd quarter 2025, according to RealPage Market Analytics. That was the smallest starts volume the nation has seen in over a decade. In fact, the volume of annual starts has fallen off nearly every quarter since peaking at roughly 587,000 units in the year-ending 3rd quarter 2022. As starts volumes descend, the U.S. continues to absorb apartments at a much faster pace than projects can get off the ground. Though apartment absorption also slowed recently, the market notched demand for a still-notable 637,100 units in the year-ending 3rd quarter 2025. That means that there were 2.7 times more units rented than started in the last year. This ratio represents a softening after peaking at 3.1 in 2nd quarter 2025.