CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE

National Q1 2026

MULTIFAMILY UNITS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

YTD FEB. 2026 MULTIFAMILY UNIT STARTS

YTD FEB. 2026 MULTIFAMILY UNIT COMPLETIONS

Q1 2026 U.S. MULTIFAMILY PIPELINE-QUICK TAKE

Tighter construction lending, higher interest rates, and elevated materials costs, paired with slower rent growth and outright rent declines in the most oversupplied pockets, have materially raised the bar for new starts. As those constraints have taken hold, the national construction pipeline has contracted by more than 50%, falling from a peak of roughly 1.18 million units under construction in Q1 2023 to about 550,000 units mid-way through the first quarter of 2026.

Within this national backdrop, the slowdown is highly uneven by market. A subset of large metros is still posting elevated, or even expanding, construction pipelines: 13 of the 50 largest markets recorded year-over-year increases in deliveries in 2025, including New York City, Columbus, Boston, and San Diego. Even so, multifamily development across the sunbelt has clearly moved off the cycle peak after several years of outsized construction. Many of the cycle’s perennial supply leaders finished 2025 with completions meaningfully below prior levels. Austin posted the sharpest pullback, with deliveries falling by roughly 14,600 units year over year to approximately 18,000 units completed in calendar year 2025. Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and San Antonio also recorded notable declines in deliveries versus 2024.

Looking ahead to 2026, the largest nominal pullback is forecast for the Dallas Metroplex, where completions are projected to fall to roughly 19,700 units, down about 12,400 units, or approximately 40% below 2025. Phoenix follows, with an estimated 11,800 units scheduled to deliver in 2026, a decline of roughly 9,400 units (about 44%). New York City, Austin, and Denver are also expected to post sizable nominal reductions in completions.