National Affordable Housing Report – April 2026
Yardi Matrix’s latest study analyzes affordable and market-rate rents for two key categories of federally designated tracts.
Affordable housing development and preservation can be channeled toward areas where construction costs or income conditions would otherwise hinder such initiatives. Some of the tools policymakers use to achieve this are Difficult Development Areas and Qualified Census Tracts, thereby ensuring developers receive an additional 30 percent boost to the eligible basis of a LIHTC project. This allows companies to adjust their capital stack requirements without affecting rents or tenant income limits.
Yardi Matrix’s latest research bulletin, which analyzes some 120,000 multifamily properties, 26,000 of which are fully affordable, examines the competitiveness of income-restricted and market-rate communities both inside and outside DDAs and QCTs.
The bulletin shows that between 2016 and 2025, the national market rate advertised rents grew 32.8 percent inside DDAs, reaching $2,216 per unit, while fully affordable maximum net rents increased 76.7 percent to $1,575 per unit. Outside the tracts, conventional rates spiked 49.2 percent to $1,587 per unit, while income-restricted rents grew 66.9 percent to $1,424 per unit.
This indicates that non-DDA tracts, which include approximately three-quarters of all affordable housing units, may foster a higher competitive environment between market-rate and income-restricted rents, particularly in Sun Belt and Midwest markets. Older conventional stock could also play a role in this overlap, as it serves as a naturally occurring affordable option.
Exploring the affordable and market rate delta by market
Kansas City, Mo., exemplifies this pattern as older market-rate inventory remained priced near income-restricted properties outside DDAs. Since 2016, advertised rents in traditional multifamily product grew 55.9 percent to $1,377 per unit as of 2025, while affordable rents increased 59.7 percent to $1,303 per unit.
The age of stock is not the only factor influencing competitiveness in non-DDA tracts. Availability and supply growth may also drive overlap. In Austin, Texas, affordable property rates rose with median incomes, overtaking advertised market-rate rents against the backdrop of a large influx of new product.
Supply constraints may create large gaps between the two property types, especially when combined with high demand. Markets such as Miami, Boston and San Francisco include non-DDA tracts where affordable rent growth is limited by income thresholds, while market-rate premiums continue spiking.
Policy decisions may be shaped with these dynamics in mind. Development-driven regulations could improve the quality of the housing stock outside DDAs, where existing market-rate units are often older or lower quality, while construction incentives inside DDAs may help projects pencil out in these high-cost tracts where such initiatives would otherwise be unfeasible.
Preservation is important across both locations. Outside DDAs, affordable preservation may prevent future rent escalation in areas with high occupancy, while DDA preservation serves to retain attainable rates in tracts where market-rate premiums are already significantly higher.
Ultimately, a sharp understanding of the interplay between market-rate and affordable rents inside and outside DDAs is required for effective policy shaping and capital allocation.
Read the full Yardi Matrix affordable housing report.
