The State of the Nation’s Housing 2023
This in-depth study from Harvard University examines many facets of the housing crisis in both the single-family and multifamily sectors. Takeaways for multifamily include the fact that apartment starts are at their highest level since the mid-1980s, with 960,000 in the pipeline in March 2023. However, the vast majority of these units are out of reach for low- and moderate-income families and zoning reform is needed to produce a broader range of housing and reduce development costs. Also, while rents are still rising in all 50 major markets except for Phoenix and Las Vegas, it specifically mentions that rents in Phoenix sunk 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2023 after rising 25.6 percent the previous year. However, even though rents are still up significantly compared to before the pandemic, they have cooled significantly everywhere in 2023 and vacancies are up along with interest rates, forecasting a slowdown in multifamily construction.
