Short answer. Multifamily housing starts peaked at ~45% of total starts in 1972, fell to under 15% by the 1990s, and have recovered to roughly 30–35% of starts in the 2020s — the highest sustained multifamily share in nearly fifty years.
| Year | Single-Family | Multifamily | SF Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 1.31M | 1.05M | 55% |
| 1985 | 1.07M | 576K | 65% |
| 2005 | 1.72M | 352K | 83% |
| 2015 | 715K | 397K | 64% |
| 2020 | 991K | 392K | 72% |
| 2024 | ~1.00M | ~360K | 74% |
The U.S. housing-starts mix has swung dramatically across decades. Multifamily share — apartment buildings, condos, and other structures with five or more units — has run anywhere from 12% of total starts (mid-1990s) to 45% (early 1970s). The decade-by-decade reading reveals a U-shaped pattern with structural meaning for housing affordability.
Decade-by-decade multifamily share
- 1970s — 35–45% multifamily. Section 236 subsidy programs and mass suburban apartment construction produced the highest multifamily share in the modern record. 1972 saw 1.05M multifamily starts against 1.31M single-family.
- 1980s — 25–35%. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 eliminated several real-estate-favorable provisions and ended the multifamily construction boom. Multifamily share fell sharply in the late 1980s.
- 1990s — 12–18%. The post-S&L cleanup and broader shift toward single-family suburban development pushed multifamily to its lowest share in the modern era. The 1994 reading was 14% — the secular low.
- 2000s — 15–20%. The single-family boom dominated. Multifamily share remained suppressed.
- 2010s — 25–32%. Apartment construction recovered strongly post-2010, driven by the millennial rental cohort and urban-core demand. By 2014 multifamily share had returned to ~30%.
- 2020s — 30–35%. The 2021–2023 multifamily boom pushed share to roughly 32% — the highest sustained reading since the 1980s.
What drives the share trend
Three factors shape multifamily's cyclical share. First, federal subsidy programs (Section 236, LIHTC) have always concentrated in multifamily. Second, land economics: when single-family land prices rise faster than apartment land, the relative profitability shifts toward multifamily. Third, demographic cohort timing: rental demand peaks during the 22–32 household-formation window, and millennial peak rental years (2014–2023) coincided with the recovery in multifamily share.
Implications for affordability
Multifamily starts are the dominant source of new rental supply. The 1990s suppression of multifamily construction is one of the structural causes of the contemporary rental affordability crisis — fewer apartments were built per capita in the 1990s than in any decade since the 1940s. The 2020s recovery in multifamily share is starting to reverse this gap, but the cumulative deficit remains material.
Related
- Housing starts dashboard
- Q&A — All-time housing starts peak (1972)
- Q&A — What is the housing supply deficit?
- Q&A — Relationship between rents and home prices
- Q&A — How has the renter share of households changed?
Sources
U.S. Census Bureau Survey of Construction; National Association of Realtors Existing Home Sales report; Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey; National Bureau of Economic Research Business Cycle Dating Committee.