By Sandra Renderos
Manager of Communications & Marketing, NAMA
For most of the last decade, multifamily property owners operated in a seller’s market for rentals. Demand was strong, new supply was still delivering, and lease-up timelines were manageable. That window has closed. Multifamily completions reached 608,000 units in 2024, the highest annual volume since 1986, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Properties that were built during this construction surge are now competing against each other in a market where residents have leverage and options for a resident base.
The result is a fundamental shift in how property management companies think about their business. Retention, not lease-up, is now the primary performance metric. According to Zego’s 2025 Resident Experience Management Report, which surveyed 600 property managers and 1,000 renters, the share of multifamily companies with retention goals above 70% has tripled since 2021. The same report found that only 15% of renters have firm plans to leave their current community, while 23% are undecided. In a compressed market, converting that undecided 23% is where the financial performance of a property is won or lost.
What Is Actually Changing in Amenity Strategy
Multifamily developers and operators spent much of the 2010s and early 2020s competing on premium amenity packages: oversized fitness centers, resort-style pools, and coworking lounges. Multifamily Executive reported in January 2026 that this approach is being actively reconsidered. The direction is toward amenities that are purpose-built around actual resident usage patterns and long-term performance, rather than broad spaces that photograph well but generate low daily engagement. That recalibration is partly a response to budget discipline in a softer market, and partly a response to what the data on resident behavior actually shows.
Catalyst Capital Partners’ 2026 Multifamily Outlook identifies this right-sizing of amenity strategy as one of the defining investment trends of the year, describing a shift toward amenities designed around resident usage and operational sustainability rather than surface-level differentiation. For property teams under pressure to justify every capital line item, measurable resident engagement is not a preference. It is a requirement.
Jim Carbone, Vice President of coffee experience at WithMe Inc., agrees. “Residents still appreciate high-end amenities, but what tends to influence day-to-day satisfaction is reliable convenience that solves everyday needs,” he says. “Moreover, predictable performance and measurable engagement are increasingly deciding factors for ownership groups evaluating ROI and operational impact.”
