Washington, D.C. – As the nation continues to rebound following the pandemic and related financial distress, the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) just released 2022 NMHC 50 finds unprecedented demand for apartment homes across the nation with historically low vacancy rates. However, while construction of new communities is growing, NIMBYism, record construction and labor costs and supply chain challenges are limiting the building of enough units to meet demand.
“The demand the industry has experienced over the last year has really been extraordinary and that is what is clearly driving unprecedentedly low vacancy rates,” said Caitlin Sugrue Walter, Vice President of Research for the National Multifamily Housing Council. “This health is represented in the growth of the number of units started on the developer and builder lists as shown in the 2022 NMHC 50. While we hope that the growth on those lists will provide some relief for the strained occupancy rates, it is obvious that we need to build more housing of all types.”
“Having been underbuilt for decades because of outdated zoning requirements, overly stringent regulations and NIMBY opposition, the nation is now facing a housing affordability crisis,” said Sugrue Walter. While this is set to be a record year for housing starts, more needs to be done by lawmakers at all levels of government to support the creation of new housing in their communities for those who need it most.”
The 2022 NMHC 50 highlights the strong fundamentals underlying the multifamily sector and paints a clear picture of why investors of all types continue to look for opportunities in this industry.
Top line takeaways from this year’s survey are:
Starwood Capital Group (headquartered in Miami, Fla.) took the top spot of the country’s largest apartment owners with 115,056 apartment homes owned.
Greystar Real Estate Partners (headquartered in Charleston, S.C.) remained the largest apartment manager with 698,257 apartments under their management.
Greystar Real Estate Partners (headquartered in Charleston, S.C.) remained the largest apartment developer with 14,047 apartments started in 2021.
Greystar Real Estate Partners (headquartered in Charleston, S.C.) took the top spot as the country’s highest-producing apartment builder, starting 11,301 apartments in 2021.
Boston Financial Investment Management, LP (headquartered in Boston, Mass.) remained the nation’s largest apartment tax credit syndicator with a portfolio of 179,930 syndicated apartment units.
Additional Industry and NMHC 50 Highlights:
- 2,472,164 – Number of total units owned by NMHC 50 top owners, representing 10.2 percent of the total U.S. apartment stock.
- 4,157,303 – Number of units collectively managed by NMHC 50 top managers.
- 129,024 – Number of units started by NMHC 50 top builders in 2021.
- 114,346 – Number of units started by NMHC 50 top developers in 2021.
- 96.6 percent – 2021 apartment occupancy rate.
- 328,000 – Number of apartment homes that need to be built every year to keep up with annual demand.
This is the 33rd annual edition of the NMHC 50 rankings. All apartment owners, managers, developers, builders and syndicators are invited to answer a survey questionnaire that asks about their prior year's activities. Apartment owners, managers and syndicators are ranked based on their portfolio holdings (either owned, managed or syndicated) as of January 1, 2022, while developers and builders are ranked based on the number of apartment units started in 2021.
Based in Washington, D.C., the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) is the leadership of the trillion-dollar apartment industry. We bring together the prominent apartment owners, managers and developers who help create thriving communities by providing apartment homes for 40 million Americans. NMHC provides a forum for insight, advocacy and action that enables both members and the communities they help build to thrive. For more information, contact NMHC at 202/974-2300, email the Council at info@nmhc.org.
