ORLANDO—Multifamily construction is at a high in most markets and, despite tepid economic growth and questions about the pace of continued wage expansion, investors and developers are bullish about apartments in most markets. At least, that's what the participants in the development panel "Are We Overbuilding, or Building the Right Stuff?" had to say during the 2016 NMHC Apartment Strategies Outlook Conference, held here Tuesday.

Session moderator Jay Denton, SVP of analytics for Axiometrics, opened up the discussion with an examination of the development that's under way—and who's behind it. Denton counted 537,904 units currently under construction across the US as of mid-January. Top 50 developers, meanwhile, account for just a fraction of that, 160,804 units.

He also noted that whereas two to three times as many properties are being built in the nation's suburbs than the 36 urban core markets he tracks, the latter markets are seeing more housing units delivered. Most of the units that have been recently built are studios or one bedroom residences, more than what's in the existing stock proportionally. This has thus far made sense, said Denton, but "we'll have to rethink that as the demographics of the renter pool change"—e.g., echo boomers form families and need larger units, and baby boomers who downgrade from single-family homes into apartments will want more room in their rental units.