The percentage of occupied multifamily units in the Greater Des Moines area slipped to 92.9% in the first half of 2025, the lowest the rate has been since late 2020, a new CBRE market report shows.

The decline in occupancy of the area’s 50,658 apartment units is the result of nearly 3,000 new units delivered to the market in the past two years, the report said.

At the end of 2024, the occupancy rate of Des Moines area apartments was 94%; in 2020, 92.6% of apartment units were occupied.

Multifamily occupancy rates will likely continue their downward trend as new units come to market. Currently, 2,895 units are under construction in the Des Moines. When completed, they will boost the number of units in the area by 5.7%, or to 53,553, according to the CBRE report.

Vacancy rates in areas with 100 or more apartments range from 3.5% in Clive to 8.3% in the central business district.

Just over one-third, or 1,071, of the new units under construction are in the central business district. Another 812 units are under construction in the western suburbs with the remainder going up in Ankeny (530 units), Norwalk (366) and northwest Des Moines (116).

Another 3,318 units are planned to be built in the next 24 months, according to the report.

Average monthly rent in the Greater Des Moines area in mid-2025 was $1,160, according to the report. At the end of 2024, the average rent was $1,122.

In the first half of 2025, six multifamily properties with 50 or more units were sold for at total of $68.2 million. More properties are expected to be sold in the second half of the year, the report said.

To read CBRE’s mid-2025 multifamily market report, click here.