A new apartment construction analysis shows Dallas-Fort Worth will keep building as long as the Metroplex keeps growing. The DFW metro area has the second-highest rate of new apartments being built in 2025, bested only by New York City.
RentCafe's report, "New Apartment Construction Tops 500K Units This Year, More Than Half in 1 Region" examined apartment building data across 369 U.S. metro areas, specifically buildings containing 50 or more units.
More than 500,000 apartments are in development throughout the country this year, the report found, though that's far lower than the 640,000-plus units that were completed nationwide by the end of 2024. This year, more than half of incoming apartments are being built in the South, where three Texas metros are leading the building boom: Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston.
DFW has the second-highest number of new units being built in the U.S. this year, totaling 28,958 apartments. However, RentCafe says that's a 22.4 percent drop in completed apartments as compared to 2024.
"Even with this slowdown, the Metroplex remains one of the top places in the country for new apartment completions," the report's author wrote. "As such, this dip in construction may just be the market taking a breather after a period of intense growth. But, with so many people still moving to the area, the demand for housing remains high."
Broken down by Metroplex cities, Dallas is expected to complete 5,778 apartments this year, the most new units out of all cities in the Metroplex. Fort Worth follows behind with 3,793 units under construction. McKinney, the No. 1 best city for renters in the U.S., is building 2,006 new apartments, which is the third-highest in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Here's how many new apartments are expected to be built by the end of 2025 in other DFW cities:
- Denton – 1,719 units
- Frisco – 1,528 units
- Anna – 1,113 units
- Grand Prairie – 868 units
- Carrollton – 839 units
- Arlington – 816 units
- Allen – 806 units
- Prosper – 788 units
- Greenville – 718 units
- Euless – 651 units
- Irving – 639 units
- Rowlett – 631 units
- Lewisville – 625 units
- Richardson – 481 units
The top 20 cities for apartment construction
A separate RentCafe ranking of the top 20 U.S. cities (not metros) building the most new apartments in 2025 unravels the Metroplex; Dallas ranked ninth, while Fort Worth ranked 20th.
The city of Austin topped both Dallas and Fort Worth, claiming the No. 1 spot with 15,195 new units expected to be completed by the end of the year, and Houston ranked 3rd on the list with 7,770 apartments in development inside the city limits. San Antonio also earned a top-10 spot, landing in 7th place with 5,921 apartments being built in the city.
RentCafe attributes Texas' apartment building boom due to the state's reputation as a "migration magnet" with excellent job and economic growth rates.
"Southern metros typically offer streamlined approval processes and fewer regulatory hurdles, making it easier to bring multifamily projects to market," said Yardi Matrix senior analyst and manager of business intelligence Doug Ressler. "At the same time, elevated home prices and a shortage of attainable for-sale housing are pushing more residents toward rentals. For many households, single-family (housing) ownership is simply out of reach — fueling demand for rental housing."
