Renter financial resilience shows improvement as wage growth outpaces rent growth RICHARDSON, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–RealPage®, a leading global provider of AI-enabled software platforms to the real estate industry, has released a comprehensive review of its 2025 market predictions. The analysis shows that - while cyclical pressures such as a softening labor market have tempered recent demand - structural drivers remain strong. This includes favorable demographics and ongoing affordability challenges in the single-family market that will continue to support long-term rental housing demand. The review highlights that while the supply wave was the dominant theme of 2024 and 2025, the market is shifting toward a new dynamic. Data indicates that despite the influx of approximately 500,000 new units delivered in 2025, strong wage growth and cooling inflation have supported robust absorption. However, RealPage sees an undersupply challenge beginning to reemerge as early as late 2026, given that new starts activity has fallen to its lowest level since 2012 due to elevated interest rates and construction financing challenges. “Our analysis shows that the multifamily sector is behaving exactly as fundamental economics would predict,” said Carl Whitaker, chief economist at RealPage. “High-supply markets are experiencing continued rent contraction with deep concessions being offered to help absorb saturated lease-up inventories. Meanwhile, lower-supply regions continue to trend ahead of the national average, with limited slack in available units. While 2025 delivered another significant block of new inventory, the development pipeline has declined at its fastest pace in well-over a decade. By late 2026, the pullback in new starts could begin to set the stage for a renewed undersupply of rental housing.” Key trends identified in the analysis include:
Persistent Wage Growth: Wage growth persists across much of the renter base, particularly among households living in…