Apartments are being built like crazy in the Sunbelt
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Nashville, Austin, Phoenix, Raleigh/Durham and Salt Lake City are poised to see the largest increases in the country in new apartments built this year — 5% or more, according to a national survey by RealPage, a data analytics and property management software provider.
Why it matters: Growth in housing stock in the Sunbelt points to where people are moving — and where the economy is likely to continue thriving.
- About 40% of Americans live in apartments, and there's a huge demand for more.
- Cities that have been attracting workers during the pandemic-era relocation trend are particularly desperate for additional housing.
Driving the news: RealPage projects that 426,000 apartment units will be built in the U.S. this year, representing a 30-year high in such activity, Smart Cities Dive reports.
- The push to build apartments in popular cities like Nashville and Austin is "driven by long-term migration trends, pandemic-geographic shifts, 40-year inflation, and deep pockets of institutional investors looking for higher returns," per Smart Cities Dive.
- The South was the only region with positive net domestic migration last year, Smart Cities Dive says, citing Census Bureau data.
- "Florida, Texas and Arizona posted the largest net migration gains among all states," the news outlet said. "They also boast four of the 10 cities with the largest expected inventory growth."
Details: Here are the top 10 cities for apartment growth, followed by the percentage increase in apartment inventory expected in 2022, according to data sent by RealPage to Axios:
- Nashville: 7%
- Austin: 6.9%
- Phoenix: 5.8%
- Raleigh/Durham: 5.3%
- Salt Lake City: 5.1%
- Jacksonville, Fla.: 4.8%
- Seattle: 4.5%
- Charlotte: 4.4%
- Orlando: 3.9%
- Denver: 3.6%
