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For much of 2026, the multifamily story was oversupply. Heavy deliveries, flat rents, and deep concessions kept owners on the defensive.

That's starting to change. In early November, CoStar Group raised its 2027 rent growth forecast and lowered its vacancy outlook, pointing to stronger-than-expected demand and a construction pipeline that keeps shrinking.

Here's what the latest forecasts say about 2027, and what they mean for property managers finalizing next year's plans.

From fixture-level meters to motion-activated toilet shutoffs, here's what's new in water technology for multifamily properties.

Water is one of the hardest utilities to control in multifamily housing. Leaks run unnoticed behind walls and inside toilet tanks, and the bill arrives long after the water is gone.

The cost adds up quietly. A worn toilet flapper or a dripping fixture rarely gets reported, so the waste only shows up on the master bill weeks later, after the water is already paid for.

A new generation of smart water devices gives property managers better tools to see that waste, stop it, and bill for what's left fairly. Below, we break down the main options, and you can find exclusive discounts for Livable customers on our smart water solutions page.

For the past two years, the multifamily story has been about supply. Developers delivered a historic wave of new units, and operators across much of the country spent 2025 and 2026 competing for residents with concessions and flat rents.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the data points to a market in transition. Vacancy is easing, concessions are reaching fewer units, and new construction has slowed sharply. But rents are still flat nationally, discounts remain unusually deep, and in many markets expenses are still rising faster than revenue.

Here's what the latest numbers say, and what they mean for property managers and owners planning for the end of the year.

Turnover gets measured in a lot of ways: lost rent, marketing spend, maintenance hours. One cost that rarely makes the spreadsheet is what happens to utilities while a unit sits empty.

As temperatures start to drop, fall is the window property managers cannot afford to skip. The weatherproofing, maintenance, and resident communication decisions made in the next few weeks directly shape heating bills, maintenance calls, and resident satisfaction for the entire winter season.

Here are seven practical conservation moves worth prioritizing this fall.

Most property managers can tell you their rent roll down to the dollar. Fewer can tell you, without pulling reports and doing the math by hand, how much utility cost their portfolio is currently absorbing that could be recovered instead.

That number matters more than it might seem. Utility recovery is one of the few operating costs that can actually be passed through to residents, and unlike rent, it doesn't depend on what the market will bear. It depends on whether the recovery process is actually working.

Every year, the same pattern shows up. Summer cooling costs climb. Winter heating costs climb. And every year, some of that increase lands on resident statements as a surprise instead of an expected shift. By the time a resident calls to dispute a charge, the property manager is already playing defense.

The operators who avoid this are not the ones with lower utility costs. They are the ones who know a seasonal spike is coming before residents open their statements.

The numbers are in, and they are telling a clear story.

Across the U.S. multifamily market, operating costs are climbing faster than rents. Insurance premiums are up dramatically in many markets, particularly in Florida and Gulf Coast states. Property taxes continue to reset upward. Labor costs remain elevated. And utilities, one of the largest controllable line items in any rental property, are rising faster than rents in many markets.

For property managers already navigating a challenging environment, that gap between income and expenses is where margin goes to die.