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Justin Fox, Columnist

How Small Apartments in Big Buildings Became the US Norm

To what extent was the construction boom a product of the sometimes-perverse incentives and disincentives facing developers?

The apartment-building boom is over.

Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The US apartment-building boom that began about a decade ago appears to have ended last year, but it did so with a bang. It was the biggest year for apartment completions since 1986 and the biggest year ever for apartments in large buildings — that is, those with 30 to 49 and 50 or more units.

The leap in apartment completions in 2024 was the product of: