New apartment construction in the US is way up in 2016, with more than 320,000 new apartments set to be completed this year. This is a 50 percent increase from the 200,000 completions reported in 2015 and a high for the last 10 years, according to new data released by RentCafe.
The boom in inventory may also be helping cool down prices in hotter markets, including Washington, DC where the rate of rental price growth year-over-year was 3.5 percent, much lower than the 5.6 percent national average.
The national average rent was at an all-time high June at $1,216 and occupancy for stabilized and completed properties reached just over 96 percent by the end of the first quarter according to RentCafe.
The DC metro area ranked fifth in new apartment construction, behind Houston, the top metro, as well as Dallas, New York City and Los Angeles. DC is expected to see just over 18,000 new apartment units completed in 2016, accounting for 6 percent of total new apartment stock in the US.
One bedrooms make up 56 percent of DC’s new apartments, where the average rent for a 585 square foot one-bedroom apartment starts in the $1,800 price range. While RentCafe admits this is still a high price tag, it is still far lower than other booming rental hubs, like Manhattan, for example, where similar pads can start closer to $4,000.
The rate of rental price growth in the US has been slowing since 2014, where it peaked at 6.3 percent over the previous year. The projected 4.4 percent growth rate for 2016 will fall below the low of 4.8 percent seen in 2012.
To read the full report, click here.
