Quarterly Apartment Supply Hits Smallest Volume in Four Years

A partially constructed room with a ladder, construction tools, and materials scattered on the floor.
Photo of Kim O'Brien, Real Estate Writer
by   Kim O'Brien
  Posted   April 24, 2026
  in   Construction

After falling below record volumes in late 2025, apartment deliveries in the early months of 2026 retracted again, hitting the smallest volume in four years.

Just over 75,205 new units wrapped up construction in 1st quarter 2026, marking the lightest quarterly delivery volume since early 2022. That was also the second quarter out of the past 12 that completions did not top the 100,000-unit mark. Back in 2nd quarter 2023, quarterly completion volumes surpassed 100,000 units for the first time since RealPage Market Analytics began tracking the U.S. apartment market in the 1990s. That milestone kicked off a five-quarter streak of rising deliveries, culminating in a peak in 3rd quarter 2024 – the height of the recent supply surge.

Bar graph showing quarterly supply levels from 2020 to 2026, indicating 1Q26 supply is below record levels.

Momentum began to ease in the final quarter of 2024, though completions remained elevated. It wasn’t until late 2025 that volumes fell below that 100,000-unit threshold once again.

This shift signals a new phase in the market cycle, one where supply pressure eases and the industry recalibrates after an unprecedented construction wave.

All regions of the U.S. saw supply volumes ease again in 1st quarter. The South region continued to deliver the most new apartments with nearly 40,000 units completed in the January to March time frame. That was more than double the volume of units completed in the next most prolific region: the West (17,700 units). However, the South has also seen the steepest pullback in delivery volumes recently. Completions in the South peaked at around 92,000 units in 3rd quarter 2024 and volumes have fallen off every quarter since. The first three months of 2026 marked the first time South region completions totaled less than 40,000 units in 16 quarters.

Bar graph illustrating quarterly supply trends across U.S. regions from Q1 2016 to Q1 2026.

The West region saw nearly 18,000 units deliver in 1st quarter 2026, which was about 3,200 units fewer than what came online in the region in 4th quarter 2025. This region also peaked in 3rd quarter 2024 at over 37,000 units.

Milder delivery volumes were seen in the Northeast (9,800 units) and Midwest (7,900 units) during 1st quarter 2026.

Markets seeing the most new deliveries in 1st quarter were Phoenix and Dallas, where completions were north of 5,000 units in the January to March time frame.

 

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