10 Worst Apartment Occupancy Performers See Vacancies Climb

Vacancies across the South have climbed in the face of a 40-plus year high supply wave. In May, the worst occupancy performers in the U.S. accounted for more than 749,600 apartment vacancies nationally, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. Heavily concentrated in Gulf Coast states and the southeast, 11 markets logged occupancy at or below 92%. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, by far the weakest occupancy performer in May, saw vacancies climb to nearly 45,500 units as occupancy dove to 90.3%, well below the South region norm (93.2%). San Antonio, one of three major markets on the list, accounted for a significant 210,300 vacant units as occupancy backtracked to 91.2%. Occupancy in Augusta (29,600 vacancies) and Baton Rouge (46,600 vacancies) tied at 91.4%. Two other top 50 markets saw vacancies increase north of 100,000 units: Memphis (101,400 vacant units with occupancy at 91.8%) and Jacksonville (131,400 vacant units with occupancy of 92%). A handful of markets chipped in more modest vacancies ranging from 23,500 units to 53,000 units, including Colorado Springs (92%), Cape Coral-Fort Myers (92%), Corpus Christi (91.5%), Shreveport (91.7%) and Lubbock (91.7%). Accelerated supply has consistently outpaced demand in these markets since 3rd quarter 2022, feeding the increase in existing units. The only exception was Shreveport which hasn’t seen any new units since mid-2019.