During the second quarter of 2021, the U.S. apartment occupancy rate surged by 70 basis points (bps) to 96.2% due to rapidly expanding employment as the nation recovers from the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to RealPage data, heightened demand resulted in quarterly absorption of 219,909 units, the largest quarterly total on record, bringing total annual absorption to 496,542 units, another all-time high.