Detroit apartments got 20% smaller
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The average size of new apartments in Detroit is 20% smaller than it was in the previous decade, RentCafe found.
Why it matters: New apartments have gotten smaller in most of the 100 U.S. cities researchers analyzed, squeezing many renters who already pay steep prices.
- Of all cities, Detroit saw the third biggest decrease in apartment size.
By the numbers: Newer apartments in Detroit — those built between 2015 and 2024 — averaged 728 square feet, per the report.
- That's a drop of 184 square feet compared with the previous decade (2005-2014).
Caveat: The report considers multifamily properties of 50 units or more, leaving out many of Detroit's larger rental options in homes, duplexes and smaller apartment buildings.
Driving the news: Developers are prioritizing smaller floor plans, including more studios and one-bedrooms.
Case in point: Prominent recent developments include the luxury Residences at Water Square, which opened early last year with nearly 500 units. Nearly all are studios and one-bedrooms.
- The studio in the development's brochure is 586 square feet, and the one-bedrooms are 668 and 784 square feet. Rents are high-end, with one studio available on the website starting at $2,475.
Context: About two-thirds of Detroit's occupied homes are single-family houses. Naturally, rentals are smaller — 62% of Detroit's multifamily rentals in buildings over 10 units were one-bedrooms as of 2021, while 59% of owned single-family homes were 3-bedrooms, according to a recent city housing market report.
- Just 11% of multifamily units in the construction pipeline have units with three or more bedroom units, per the 2024 report. In apartment developments built since 2018, 71% of units are studios or one-bedrooms.
- Detroit has historically had an outsized number of single-family homes, though some of that has changed in recent years with blighted houses and larger buildings demolished.
What they're saying: Some of the newer complexes getting built cater more to students or professionals who need less space than families. It's all about location and target audience, says Darralyn Bowers, a longtime Realtor and president of Southfield-based Bowers Realty.
- "In cities like Detroit … a lot of the multifamily housing that's being built there is being built as affordable housing," Wayne State urban studies professor Jeff Horner tells Axios. "If you're a developer, you're already going to have a hard enough time building housing with low rental rates … the way you do that is you make each unit a little smaller and able to rent or sell more units."