America’s latest apartment building haven might be Columbus, Ohio.
The midsize metro is seeing its highest permit rate for multifamily housing, like apartment buildings, since 2019. Thanks to density-friendly zoning reforms, the city is set to add thousands of homes, giving renters more options that could make the market more affordable over time. Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, and Birmingham, Alabama, are reporting similar upticks, per a July Realtor.com Renter Report. And they’re bucking a national trend: Overall US multifamily approvals are still 13.1% lower than they were in five years ago.
Increasing housing supply through new construction is one way cities can meet demand and drive down costs for renters — especially as many urban areas face a mounting affordability crisis. Increasing supply won’t be a perfect solution, but building more…
