Philadelphia Multifamily Report – May 2024
With occupancy significantly above the national average, the city has ended a nearly half-year streak of negative rent movement.
Philadelphia’s multifamily market showed signs of improvement at the end of the first quarter. After nearly six months of negative rent movement, rates were up 0.1 percent on a trailing three-month basis through March. Year-over-year performance also recorded a boost. Philadelphia rents increased 2.2 percent to $1,729, while the national average rose 0.9 percent year-over-year through March, to $1,721. Occupancy showed positive signs, as well. Despite sliding 50 basis points in the 12 months ending in February, the metro’s rate still stood 100 basis points above the 94.5 percent U.S. average.
Greater Philadelphia’s unemployment rate settled at 3.8 percent as of February, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure stayed flat month-over-month and was 10 basis points below the national average. In 2023, the metro added 92,000 net jobs, amounting to a 2.8 percent expansion. Education and health services led gains, with 42,600 net positions or a 5.5 percent increase. The sector will also receive a boost from Cooper University Health Care’s $2 billion expansion project in Camden, N.J. Cooper will begin construction on the initial phase later this year.
Developers had more than 18,000 units under construction as of March in the metro. After almost 6,100 units came online last year, Yardi Matrix expects deliveries to maintain a steady pace, with an estimated 6,253 apartments slated to come online in 2024 and more than 7,500 next year.
