Multifamily Starts Increase in March

Our most recent comments on multifamily permitting indicated that while both the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) and not seasonally adjusted annual totals have been increasing slightly since early 2025, it is too early to tell whether this is the beginning of a new growth cycle for apartments or more of a plateau or sustained level of permitting that occurred twice in the past thirty years.

The latest data release from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development included data for February and March, but two more months of data are still not enough to determine if a trend is emerging.

Both the SAAR and nominal totals seem to show an upward trend, but only slight. There is, however, what appears to be a more pronounced increase in multifamily starts. Starts seem to be ticking up faster than permits but that data series is based on a small sample set as opposed to the more robust building permit data.

Specifically, the March SAAR for multifamily starts was up 13.5% from February and 9.6% year-over-year to 446,000 units. Meanwhile, multifamily permitting decreased 5.3% from the previous month and 23.5% from one year ago to a SAAR of 427,000 units.

Builders and developers appear to be cautious as employment growth falters, interest rates trended up in March, and geopolitical events continue to stir economic uncertainty. Additionally, RealPage’s Analytics group has seen a recent decline in developer inquiries about our Market Feasibility Studies and Custom Analysis reports for new apartment and student housing projects.

A similar pattern emerged on the single-family side as the SAAR for single-family starts increased 8.9% for the month and 9.7% for the year to 1.032 million homes. Annualized single-family permitting decreased 7.9% from February and 3.8% from last March to 895,000 units.

Together with the small plex category, total residential starts increased 10.8% for both the month and year to 1.502 million units, while total residential permitting slipped 7.9% for the month and 10.8% for the year to 1.372 million units.

Multifamily completions were up 10.2% from last March but were down 9.1% for the month at 452,000 units. Meanwhile, single-family completions fell 4.8% from last March to 896,000 units and were down 14.5% from February.

The SAAR for multifamily units under construction decreased 1.5% from last March to 659,000 units and were down 12% for the month. Single-family units under construction were up 1.6% for the year and down 7.3% from February to 587,000 units.

Compared to one year ago, the annual rate for multifamily permitting decreased in only the South region (down 28.9% to 178,000 units). Annual permitting increased 36.6% in the small Northeast region to 49,000 units, by 24.9% in the West region to 126,000 units, and by 15.3% in the Midwest region to 76,000 units. Compared to the previous month, permitting down across all regions.

With better seasonal weather, annualized multifamily starts increased sharply in the South region (up 39.1% to 226,000 units) and were up 27.4% in the Northeast region to 100,000 units (twice their permitting rate). The West region experienced a moderate decrease of 7.3% to 57,000 units, while the Midwest region saw starts decrease 30.4% to 63,000 units. Compared to February’s SAAR, starts were up in the Northeast, Midwest and South regions and down sharply in the West region.