Built-for-rent multifamily starts jump 18% in Q4 2025

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1. Built-for-rent multifamily starts jump 18% in Q4 2025

According to a NAHB analysis, multifamily housing starts for rent rose year-over-year in Q4 2025.

• During the quarter, 96,000 multifamily units began construction, with 91,000 of them built-for-rent, an 18% increase from Q4 2024.

• Rental units accounted for 95% of all multifamily construction starts in the quarter. For context, the market share of built-for-rent units hit a historical low of 47% in Q3 2005.

• Meanwhile, 6,000 multifamily condo units started construction in Q4, unchanged from a year earlier.

2. Median asking rent hits 4-year low in February

According to an analysis by Realtor.com, the national median asking rent for 0–2 bedroom properties across the 50 largest metros fell to $1,667 in February 2026, the lowest level in four years.

The decline marked the 30th consecutive year-over-year drop, with rents down $29, or 1.7%, compared to February 2025.

Among the 50 largest U.S. markets, 15 recorded median asking rents at least 10% below their pandemic-era peaks. Austin saw the steepest decline, with rents down 18.2% from their peak and 7.1% year over year.

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3. Catch up quick

🏡 Laredo, Texas is the most affordable U.S. city. (TheHill)

💵 Texas leads as NAR PAC spending approaches $10M. (Inman)

👔 Powell says he'll remain Fed chair until the Senate confirms his replacement. (CNBC)

🏭 Tesla, SpaceX plan to build a new chip factory in Austin. (Mashable)

😄 Plano is the happiest city in Texas. (WalletHub)

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4. Flipping hits lowest profits since 2008

According to a report from ATTOM, a total of 297,045 single-family homes and condos were flipped nationwide in 2025. That’s down 3.9% from 309,050 in 2024 and marks the fewest home flips in a year since 2020.

The typical flipped home generated $65,981 in gross profit, compared to $77,000 in 2024. That translates to a 25.5% return on investment, down from 32.1% and the lowest level since 2008.

Investors accounted for 7.4% of flipped homes, down slightly from 7.6% the year before.

5. 630K more sellers than buyers, biggest gap on record

According to a new report from Redfin, there were an estimated 46.3% more home sellers than buyers in February, a gap of about 629,808 homes. That marks the largest imbalance on record, with data going back to 2013, and is up from 29.8% (449,409) a year earlier.

The number of homebuyers fell 2.4% month over month in February to an estimated 1.36 million. Meanwhile, the number of sellers declined just 0.4% to about 1.99 million.

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