Mid-Atlantic Multifamily Real Estate Market Reports

Richmond & Hampton Roads

Richmond metro area multifamily occupancy declined by 10 basis points year-over-year, to end 2025 at 95.2%. Occupancy is 130 basis points higher than at the end of 2023. Average effective rental rates were down in 2025 in Richmond, declining by 0.1% year-over-year. Growth has dropped sharply from a peak in 2021, which remains an outlier in recent history. Deliveries exceeded absorption in 2025 as absorption was down significantly, declining by about one-third compared with 2024. Deliveries increased slightly year-over-year but were 18.4% lower than the ten-year high reached in 2023. Multifamily sales volume in the Richmond metro market for 2025 surpassed the previous two years, totaling $800 million, nearly half of which occurred during the fourth quarter.

Hampton Roads multifamily occupancy has increased each of the last two years, ending 2025 at 96.5%, up 70 basis points year-over-year and up 120 basis points compared to 2023. Effective rent growth increased by 110 basis points over the last two years, after declining sharply between 2021 and 2023. Rents grew 3.2% year-over-year. Absorption outpaced deliveries in Hampton Roads during 2025, though both decreased compared with the year prior. Absorption was down 27.4% compared with 2024, while deliveries declined by 56.3% over the same period. Multifamily sales in the Hampton Roads market increased during each of the last two years, ending 2025 with approximately $1.1 billion in volume, 30.7% higher than in 2024.

Baltimore & Washington DC

Baltimore metro area multifamily occupancy has increased each of the last two years, ending 2025 at 95.3%, up 80 basis points year-over-year and up 120 basis points compared to 2023. Effective rent growth in the Baltimore metro slowed to end the year, the third out of fourth year where effective rent growth declined, after a small uptick in 2024. Overall, effective rents grew at just 0.1% over the past year. Baltimore metro area multifamily properties absorbed 3,130 units during 2025, down 20.9% compared with 2024. The market delivered 1,567 units, the smallest amount since 2022. Baltimore metro area multifamily sales volume was down compared with 2024, coming in at just below $1.0 billion for the year, though fourth quarter volume surpassed each of the previous three years over the same period, with nearly $250 million in closed deals.

Washington metro area multifamily occupancy declined by 120 basis points year-over-year, to end 2025 at 94.8%. Suburban Maryland leads the way regionally, with an occupancy of 95.0%. Rental rates across the Washington metro area were down in 2025, with each of the market’s jurisdictions registering lower average annual effective rents than the year prior. Market-wide rents declined by 1.1%. Nearly 11,000 units were delivered across the Washington metro area during 2025, though fewer delivered in each quarter than the last. The market absorbed just 2,059 units over the same period. Multifamily sales volume in the Washington metro area was up during second half of 2025, after a slow start to the year, with fourth quarter transactions amassing the largest volume since 2021, at $2.6 billion.