The multifamily housing sector has remained busy throughout this economic cycle, to say the least.
Since 2010, there have been approximately 2 million new apartments built across the nation’s 150 major apartment markets.
While the average size of multifamily properties built this past decade was around 200 units, there are some metros that have gone above and beyond in construction, according to RealPage.
And not all of those metros are larger cities.
The largest project developed this decade in a small market was in Omaha, Nebraska, with 732 units completed this year. According to RealPage, this project is also the state’s largest single structure of market-rate apartments.
Oklahoma City notably has two ranked developments topping the list this cycle. Lincoln at Central Park is ranked No. 2, having completed 706 units in 2010, and Fountain Lake is ranked No. 7, with 530 units completed in 2011.
RealPage said that this is the only small market to have two of the nation’s largest completions in any of the past 10 years.
Fayetteville, Arkansas also stood out on the small town charts, with its population growing 18% from 2010 to 2018, significantly higher than the national average of 5.8%.
Check out the chart below to see the largest multifamily projects in small markets in the last decade.
RealPage says small markets received only 16% of the total number of apartments that were completed during this cycle. The reason behind the demand in small markets? These small markets are driven by stable economic factors, reducing market volatility.
Conversely, the 10 largest completions of the cycle all had at least 850 units and were concentrated in large markets in New York and California.
