Some Perspective on the 50-Year Peak in Apartment Supply Volumes

We’ve been talking a lot about apartment supply volumes hitting a 50-year peak recently. But to really appreciate what we mean by that, let’s look at what was happening in the world last time apartment supply volumes were this high. In the year-ending 3rd quarter 2024, over 557,800 units were delivered across the U.S., according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. The last time this many new apartments came online in a single year was 1974. Back then, most of us on the editorial staff were not yet born. Not to brag. President Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal. Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record. West Germany won the World Cup in soccer. East Germany was also in the running for the title. The sitcom Happy Days premiered. Disco was becoming popular in the U.S. Blazing Saddles and Godfather II debuted at the box office (one later won the Oscar for Best Picture), and Stephen King published his first novel. While annual apartment supply volumes came close in 1986 – the year the Chernobyl disaster took place – deliveries faded to more reasonable levels after that, until climbing notably in more recent years.