Washington, D.C. Multifamily Market Report Q3 2026
2024 Delivery Peak Fades 55%, but Demand Trails New Supply
Demand
Washington DC absorbed 1,194 units in Q3 2026, against -2,671 in the same quarter last year. Vacancy is 4.6%, 27 bps looser than Q3 2025. Southeast DC is the tightest submarket at 3.3% vacancy; Bethesda leads rent growth at +3.1%. Trailing-12-month absorption of 3,952 units is down from 13,365 a year earlier.
Supply
Washington DC recorded 616 units of completions in Q3 and 6,632 over the trailing twelve months (-49% versus the prior TTM period). Units under construction equal 1.9% of inventory, concentrated in Central DC at 4.8% of its stock. Annual completions peaked at 14,624 units in 2024. The 13,495-unit pipeline equals about 13 and a half quarters of absorption at the trailing pace.
Investment Market
Washington DC recorded $17.0B in sales over the trailing twelve months, +235% against the prior TTM period; Q3 accounted for $10.64B. The high-water mark in this series is $14.4B in 2026. Q3 volume is 5.4 times the prior four-quarter average and likely reflects entity-level activity from the AvalonBay and Equity Residential merger, which also sets the 2026 high. Read volume as directional. CoStar records $1.99B for Q3; on that count trailing volume would be $8.4B.
Washington DC cap rates average 5.64%. Pricing sits at $288k per unit, higher for 2 consecutive years.
Volume
- $17.0B TTM volume (+235% YoY)
- Q3 2026: $10.64B
- Series peak $14.4B (2026)
Pricing
- Cap rate 5.64%
- Price per unit $288k
- Caps expanding 1 quarters running
