(as posted in Multi-Housing News on May 18, 2023)

U.S. multifamily construction was robust at the start of a new leasing season, with the pipeline amounting to nearly 1.1 million units underway across 4,910 properties, according to Yardi Matrix. However, deliveries were slow, with just 73,506 units coming online this year through April. That’s less than 7 percent of the national pipeline, and accounts for 20 percent of last year’s 369,827-unit total.

National multifamily construction figures have lowered substantially, affected principally by more stringent financing conditions. This nearly halved the number of new projects that broke ground across the U.S. to just 62,741 units between January and March, half the 122,134-unit volume of construction starts registered last year during the same interval.

Here’s our list of top markets for multifamily development in the U.S., using Yardi Matrix data. Our primary criterion was the volume of units under construction as of early May 2023; we coupled this data with metrics such as new construction starts and completions.

1. Austin, Texas

Austin had the hottest multifamily construction activity in the country, counting 61,873 units underway as of May 2023, taking the first spot from fellow Texas metro Dallas by just 1,341 units. In addition, the metro had more than 106,000 units in the planning and permitting stages. Austin developers are building larger communities compared to other metros in this ranking as, by number of properties under construction, the metro occupies only a third place, behind Dallas (229 properties) and Los Angeles (239 properties).

During the first four months of 2023, developers delivered 2,547 units in Austin, ranking fourth among the markets in this list, trailing Phoenix, Miami and Atlanta. The number of units that came online accounts for 3.5 percent of Austin’s existing multifamily stock, only behind Miami (3.8 percent), Atlanta (3.7 percent) and Phoenix (5.3 percent). In 2022, the metro’s multifamily inventory added 16,093 units (4.4 percent of total stock), behind Dallas and Houston.

In most metros, new construction starts dropped and Austin was no different. During the first quarter of 2023, 6,013 units (22 properties) broke ground in the metro, well below the 8,481 units (31 properties) that began construction during the same period in 2022.

2. Dallas

Dallas lost the leading position for multifamily construction that it has held in past years, but not by much. At the start of May, developers had 60,532 units under construction and another 163,000 units in the planning and permitting stages. Meanwhile, deliveries totaled 2,016 units (2.8 percent of existing stock), which places it at the middle of this ranking, behind Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta and Austin.

DFW’s strong demand helped maintain a robust construction pipeline, coming in second by number of new construction starts, trailing only Austin. During the first quarter of the year, developers started construction on 5,864 units across 22 properties, only slightly below (-7.6 percent) the 6,347-unit volume (26 properties) recorded during the same period last year.

3. Miami

Miami rounded out the top three with 44,532 units across 159 properties under construction as of May. Another 259,000 units were in the planning and permitting stages. Deliveries through May amounted to 2,732 units (3.8 percent of existing stock), a volume that placed the metro behind Austin and Dallas on this list.

Developers began construction on 3,612 units across 14 properties during the first quarter of 2023, behind Austin, Dallas and Atlanta. This volume marks a 38.1 percent drop from the 5,833 units in 20 properties that broke ground during the same interval last year.

4. Atlanta

Atlanta ranked fourth with 41,204 units under construction across 173 properties, as of May. There were another 147,000 units in the planning and permitting stages. Meanwhile, deliveries totaled 2,679 units, the equivalent of 3.7 percent of total stock, earning it another fourth rank among the metros on this list.

During the first quarter of 2023, developers started construction on 4,120 units, 17 percent below the unit volume that broke ground during last year’s first quarter—4,962 units. Given the current economic landscape, investor confidence in Atlanta remained strong, topped by only two metros on this list, New York and Dallas.

5. Phoenix

As of May, Phoenix had 39,875 units in 167 properties under construction. The pipeline comprised another 98,000 units in the planning and permitting stages. While it lags in volume of units under construction, the metro led by far in completions as of early May; during this four-month period, 3,811 units came online, representing 5.3 percent of existing inventory.

Construction starts-wise, the trend is less promising—only 1,985 units broke ground during the first quarter of 2023, a substantial 70 percent decline from the 6,580-unit volume posted during the same interval last year.