As the late writer Mark Twain said, "If you don't like New England weather, wait a few minutes." The same might be said about annual apartment absorption in different markets of the country. In fact, shifts in absorption have been noticeable across the country, from Los Angeles on the West Coast to New York's Bronx borough in the East, to Chicago and Detroit in the Heartland and Dallas and San Antonio in the Southwest. 

Overall, demand slowed in the last part of 2022, then picked up in the first few months of 2023, according to RealPage Market Analytics' June 2023 report. Nevertheless, a few of the largest 50 markets remain negative for absorption with 10 having net move-outs from 5,500 units or more. Some of these 10 included the very largest markets of Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and New York.

Hemorrhaging or move-outs have now mainly slowed, except for a few areas, including three that posted negative numbers of more than 10,000 units in the year that ended in 2023's first quarter. These represented a geographically diverse mix of Los Angeles at the top with 14,914 units, followed by Houston with 13,537 and Dallas at 10,383. The other seven showing negative absorption of a smaller number between 5,500 and 8,300 units, were also located coast to coast and in between with New York at negative 8,328, Detroit at 8,114, Chicago at 7,576, Atlanta at 6,829, Las Vegas at 5,851, San Antonio at 5,769 and Riverside, Calif., at 5,527.