Multifamily Supply Overhang Begins to Ease
📊 Multifamily Update: The Supply Wave Is Finally Starting to Ease One of the biggest questions investors have been asking the past 18–24 months is: When does the supply pressure let up? We’re now starting to see the first real signs of that shift. According to new CoStar data, the national multifamily market is actively working through the historic wave of deliveries from 2022–2025. While vacancies remain elevated in newly delivered properties, the overhang itself is shrinking as absorption improves and new deliveries slow MultifamilyUnits. Key national takeaways: - Roughly 353,000 recently delivered units still need to lease up to reach equilibrium, but that number is declining MultifamilyUnits. - The drawdown of excess vacant inventory accelerated in Q4, with over 100,000 units absorbed year-to-date MultifamilyUnits. - Demand for higher-quality, stabilized assets remains strong, with properties built 2017–2021 operating below the national vacancy average MultifamilyUnits. - The challenge today is volume timing, not renter demand. In short: the market is digesting supply, not breaking under it. 📍 Kansas City Focus: A Faster Reset Than Most Markets Kansas City is actually ahead of many metros in this cycle. CoStar data shows that KC’s apartment construction pipeline has shrunk to its lowest level in nearly a decade, driven by higher borrowing costs, tighter equity requirements, and slower rent growth KCMultifamily. Kansas City highlights: - Only ~5,300 units currently under construction, representing just 2.9% of total inventory, the lowest level since 2018 KCMultifamily. - This is down sharply from the 2021 peak, when nearly 9,000 units were underway KCMultifamily. - 2026 deliveries are projected at ~2,900 units, the lowest annual total since 2019, aligning new supply much more closely with demand KCMultifamily. - Several submarkets, including parts of Cass County, now have zero units under construction. What this means: - KC is likely to see supply pressure ease sooner than many Sun Belt markets - Stabilized assets should benefit first - Rent growth doesn’t need to surge for fundamentals to improve — simply less competition helps