Columbus, OH Multifamily Market Report Q3 2026
Rent Reaches a Record $1,433, Yet Vacancy Edges Up to 4.4%
Demand
Columbus absorbed 1,435 units in Q3 2026, against 1,651 in the same quarter last year. Vacancy is 4.4%, 35 bps looser than Q3 2025. Southeast Columbus is the tightest submarket at 3.6% vacancy; Grove City/South Columbus leads rent growth at +5.2%. Trailing-12-month absorption of 5,921 units is down from 8,922 a year earlier. Rent of $1,433 is up 1.5% year over year and a record. Vacancy sits 118 bps below the Q1 2024 peak of 5.6%.
Supply
Columbus recorded 2,019 units of completions in Q3 and 6,932 over the trailing twelve months (-3% versus the prior TTM period). Units under construction equal 4.3% of inventory, concentrated in Reynoldsburg/Far East Columbus at 7.4% of its stock. Annual completions peaked at 7,708 units in 2025. The 9,438-unit pipeline equals about six and a half quarters of absorption at the trailing pace.
Investment Market
Columbus recorded $1.6B in sales over the trailing twelve months, +23% against the prior TTM period; Q3 accounted for $393M. The high-water mark in this series is $2.7B in 2022.
Columbus cap rates average 6.26%, down for 7 straight quarters. Pricing sits at $129k per unit, higher for 17 consecutive years. The cap rate is 100 bps below the Q1 2015 high of 7.26%. Price per unit is at a record.
Volume
- $1.6B TTM volume (+23% YoY)
- Q3 2026: $393M
- Series peak $2.7B (2022)
Pricing
- Cap rate 6.26%
- Price per unit $129k
- Caps compressing 7 quarters running
