Briefing Points

  • According to a report from data firm MSCI Real Assets provided to Multifamily Dive, apartment sales in the second quarter of 2026 increased 1% year-over-year to $36.7 billion. However, MSCI noted that the quarter was "the first since early 2024 in which both single-asset and portfolio sales declined."
  • Excluding the completion of Veris Residential's $3.4 billion privatization deal—the first entity-level transaction to reach the billions since 2024—second-quarter volume would have fallen 8%.
  • MSCI data shows apartment prices fell 1.7% year-over-year, marking the second consecutive year of negative growth in the sector. Cap rates for garden-style properties and mid/high-rise properties averaged 5.9% in the second quarter, compared with 4.5% and 4.4% respectively in 2022, which were cycle lows. A year ago, mid/high-rise properties had a 30-basis-point discount relative to garden-style properties.

Deep Dive

Apartment sales pulled back across several segments in the second quarter, after a year of rising volume.

"In the apartment sector, the story we were following was a slow and steady recovery in volume toward the end of the year," Jim Costello, executive director of research at MSCI, told Multifamily Dive. "But in recent months, we've seen some signs of weakness."

Single-asset sales fell 7% year-over-year to $27.6 billion, after five consecutive quarters of growth ranging from 9% to 44%. According to MSCI, transaction volume fell 19% in April, with some recovery in May and June.

Portfolio transactions fell 16% year-over-year in the second quarter, after seven consecutive quarters of growth. Volume declined in April, rose in May, and fell again in June, marking the first time since 2014 that June portfolio transactions were below $1 billion.

"Portfolio and entity-level sales are useful tools for institutional investors to quickly gain exposure to the sector when pricing signals suggest stronger returns," MSCI said in the report. "Recent pricing weakness may explain why such large deals have been limited."

According to MSCI data, garden-style apartment sales fell 21% year-over-year to $17.7 billion, while mid/high-rise apartment sales increased 36% to $19 billion, boosted by the Veris transaction.

MSCI data shows single-asset sales of garden-style properties fell 23% in April, 8% in May, and 15% in June. Mid/high-rise apartment transactions fell 14% in April but increased 19% and 17% in May and June, respectively.

Overall, the first half of 2026 raised more questions than answers about the direction of the apartment sales market.

"Last year you hit a high point, and now the question is how long that momentum can last—that doesn't mean saying, 'Hey, it's going to crash,'" Costello said. "It's just not going to keep growing at the pace of the past two years."

Clickhereto subscribe and receive similar multifamily and apartment news every business day.