Affordable apartment construction in the 2020s is booming — in a sharp departure from prior years.
The US has experienced a record uptick in affordable apartment construction between 2020 and 2024, building nearly 310,000 new units since 2020 — a 73% increase compared to the prior five-year period, according to RentCafe.
And, shockingly, two notoriously expensive cities lead the way.
Seattle led the nation with 14,290 total units completed between 2020 and 2024. In the prior five-year period, just 10,000 affordable apartments were delivered. A 430-unit development in Everett, Washington notably extended Seattle’s affordable housing footprint, according to RentCafe.
New York City trailed behind Seattle with an incredible 185.26% increase in affordable apartments between the five-year periods.
The Big Apple added a total of 14,250 new affordable apartments in recent years, according to RentCafe. That’s a 32% share of all new housing deliveries locally.
Affordable construction set a new precedent in 2024, the most recent year in the analysis. A total of 91,000 affordable apartments were completed, according to RentCafe, marking the highest annual total in a decade.
The 73% uptick between 2020 and 2024 significantly outpaced overall apartment growth, which rose 36% between the two five-year periods.
The analysis credited expanded public funding and widespread support for the surge, as well as new tools that sweetened the pot for housing developers.
The 2018 addition of the “Average Income test,” or “income averaging,” as a new technique within the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program notably drew in more developers to the affordable housing game.
The updated tool gave developers much-needed flexibility to allow a wider range of income levels into affordable units, while still qualifying for the tax perks of affordable developments.
Sun Belt metros like San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Charlotte, North Carolina recorded some of the fastest growth rates.
Completed apartments in San Antonio more than doubled in output, with more than 9,000 new apartments over the five-year period. This was an incredible 223% increase in new units compared to the previous five years, and upped the city’s share of new affordable apartments to nearly a quarter of its total new housing supply.
