Demand for U.S. apartments spiked to a five-year high in the second quarter of 2019, with 155,515 units absorbed over the course of three months, according to recent data from RealPage. This marks an 11% increase over the second quarter of 2018, and follows two quarters of slower-than-usual leasing in Q4 2018 and Q1 2019.

RealPage’s Charlotte Wheeler notes that leasing activity is typically higher in the second quarter, averaging 141,000 units over the past five years. Across all four quarters, demand has averaged about 74,000 units each quarter.

With demand in 2019’s 2nd quarter more than double new supply coming online, the nation’s occupancy rate climbed 0.6 points quarter-over-quarter to 95.8%, above the five-year average of 95.2%.

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