For the first time since the delivery wave crested, Dallas-Fort Worth renters are filling apartments faster than developers can open them. The metroplex absorbed roughly 8,500 units against about 7,500 deliveries in the first quarter, according to Chad Colley, Multifamily & Mixed-Use Partner at Trademark Property Company, and the pipeline of units under construction now sits about 43% below its 2023 peak. The recovery, though, has not reached every corner of the region.
“It’s two different markets wearing the same name,” Colley said. “If you own a stabilized asset in an infill location, 2026 has been a decent year. If you’re finishing a lease-up in a suburb that absorbed 4,000 units in 18 months, you’re still grinding.”
The demand side of that equation is not in question. DFW absorbed nearly 7,000 more units than the second-place U.S. metro in the first half of the year, according to Greg Toro, Senior Managing Director of Capital Markets at JLL, and occupancy is up nearly a full point over 2025…