Knoxville Multifamily Report – April 2025
The market is showing strong supply and matching demand.
Knoxville’s multifamily market has posted fairly consistent performance with solid fundamentals for a few years. The metro’s allure led to robust stock expansion in 2024, inducing pressure on rent growth, which declined 0.3 percent, on a trailing three-month basis through February, to $1,460, while remaining unchanged year-over-year. Additionally, the occupancy rate in stabilized properties decreased 0.7 percent year-over-year, to 95.7 percent in February.
Knoxville’s employment growth recovery continued, up 1.5 percent in 2024, surpassing the 1.3 percent U.S. rate for the first time since 2023. The unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in January, leading the state (3.7 percent) and the U.S. (4.0 percent). While the metro gained 6,200 net jobs in 2024, information and leisure and hospitality lost 500 jobs combined. Education and health services (3,900 jobs) and manufacturing (1,200 jobs) accounted for most of the job gains. The $114 million multi-use stadium Covenant Health Park is slated to open in March. The project will create 400 jobs and is expected to generate $500 million over the next 30 years.
On the heels of last year’s 5.1 percent peak supply growth, construction activity remained strong, with deliveries already accounting for 0.7 percent of stock as of February. Meanwhile, investment activity paused, with just $107 million in multifamily assets trading in 2024. The price per unit fell 24.5 percent year-over-year to $141,473, well below the $228,671 U.S. average.
