U.S. needs more than four million new apartments by 2035

Roughly 4.3 million new apartments will be necessary by 2035 to meet rising demand, according to research from the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and National Apartment Association.

Some 266,000 new units will be needed annually. Housing affordability has worsened over the past several years, according to the research. The number of affordable units, defined as those with rents less than $1,000 per month, declined by 4.7 million from 2015 to 2020.

“Producing enough new apartments to meet demand requires new development approaches, more incentives and fewer restrictions,” researchers say. Texas, Florida, and California account for 40% of future demand and will collectively require 1.5 million apartments by 2035.

“The lack of available housing is holding our country back,” said NMHC president and CEO Doug Bibby. “Whether it is a multifamily residence, duplex or single-family home, we need a massive supply of new for sale and rental homes—including millions of new apartments by 2035.”