Knoxville Multifamily Report – September 2026
Occupancy is decidedly down, but asking rents are showing signs of life.
Knoxville’s multifamily fundamentals remained mixed in July, as positive short-term rent growth persisted despite pressure from elevated recent supply. Average advertised asking rents rose 0.2 percent, on a trailing three-month basis, to $1,502, matching the U.S. increase to $1,771, while year-over-year rents declined 1.1 percent and the national average rose 0.2 percent. The occupancy rate in stabilized properties fell 150 basis points year-over-year to 94.4 percent in June, reflecting absorption pressure amid the metro’s recent supply expansion.
Knoxville employment growth slowed to 0.7 percent year-over-year in May, ahead of the 0.1 percent U.S. contraction. Unemployment fell to 3.4 percent in June, below Tennessee’s 3.5 percent and the 4.2 percent U.S. rate. The metro added 1,400 net jobs, with five sectors gaining and five losing; education and health services and government led gains, while construction and manufacturing led losses. Greenheck Group’s $300 million Midway campus and TRISO-X’s Oak Ridge nuclear fuel and R&D project are notable demand drivers.
Developers delivered 886 units in 2026 through July, with 3,641 units underway and starts down 53.5 percent from the same period in 2025. Investment volume was very limited, at $7 million, while the average price per unit fell 39.3 percent from year-end 2025 to $94,595, although the figure is based on a single transaction and is not indicative of broader metro pricing.
