Apartment construction has increased notably in Savannah, after a surge of new renters hit during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, when residents fled big cities in favor of small coastal towns. In response to the quick influx of renters, developers noticed. Savannah now ranks among a handful of other small apartment markets with big inventory growth, with roughly 3,300 units currently under construction scheduled to increase the existing stock by 10.1%, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. While scheduled inventory growth in the U.S. overall is lower at 5.2%, it's one of the most robust pipelines ever recorded. Savannah only has about 33,000 or so units of existing stock, so this is quite a surge for the once sleepy southern town. With new apartments hitting the Savannah market at a rapid pace, occupancy eased to 93.4% as of October. After rent growth here outpaced the U.S. average throughout much of the past two years, price increases came down as well, flattening out at just 0.2% in the year-ending October.
