Last year proved slightly better than expected for two-plus-unit housing starts, with a 17.4% year-over-year increase in new construction, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

The National Multifamily Housing Council Top 25 Builders list reinforces that picture: nearly 80% of the developers and contractors on the most recent ranking saw starts climb in 2025 compared to the prior year.

"We were expecting the market to pick up a little, and it did," said Marc Padgett, president of Summit Contracting Group, in emailed comments to Multifamily Dive.

Not all signals were positive, however. For the first time since 2019, no developer on the NMHC Top 25 Developers list surpassed 8,000 starts — a notable step back from the 2022 and 2023 cycles, when the leading firms each exceeded 13,000 units. On the builders side, by contrast, the top company crossed 10,000 starts for the fifth consecutive year.

Development moves

Greystar retained the No. 1 position on the 2026 developer ranking, though its starts declined by more than 1,000 units. The biggest mover was JPI, which surged from No. 18 to No. 2 after posting more than 4,000 additional starts — a rebound that comes three years after its operating platform was acquired by Sumitomo Forestry America.

"Through detailed planning and advanced technology, JPI is transforming the way we develop," CEO Payton Mayes told Multifamily Dive in emailed comments.

Homebuilder D.R. Horton climbed from No. 5 to No. 3 on the strength of more than 1,500 additional starts. Alliance Residential jumped from No. 8 to No. 4, adding nearly 1,700 starts, while Hillpointe slipped from No. 4 to No. 5 despite a year-over-year increase in its own starts.

Six firms entered the top 25 for the first time: Middleburg Communities (No. 11), Harbor Group International (No. 16), LDG Development (No. 18), Willow Bridge Property Co. (No. 20), OHT Partners (No. 22), and Gilbane Development (No. 24).

The five largest gains among developers belonged to JPI (+4,208 starts), Harbor Group International (+2,707), Trammell Crow Residential (+1,781), Alliance Residential (+1,662), and Middleburg Communities (+1,589).

Middleburg CEO Chris Finlay credited the firm's growth to operational infrastructure built up over several years.

"We start with what we know works, lock that in early, and adapt only where it truly matters," Finlay said in emailed comments. "That reduces friction in a way that's hard to see from the outside — fewer late changes, tighter execution, more predictability — and volume is just the natural output of that."

The steepest declines on the developer list were posted by Continental Properties Co. (1,453 fewer starts), Wood Partners (1,066 fewer starts), and Greystar (1,059 fewer starts).

Contractor shifts

Movement on the builder list broadly tracked the developer rankings for firms that construct their own apartments. JPI, ranked No. 5, added 3,984 starts, while The NRP Group jumped to No. 2 with 1,861 additional starts.

Summit Contracting Group held the top contractor spot with 10,323 starts — its ninth No. 1 finish in the past 10 years. The Jacksonville, Florida-based firm didn't post dramatic gains, but its numbers improved on the prior year nonetheless.

"We attribute it to the market getting a little better than the prior year, and we did a little better than we projected," Padgett said.

Greystar claimed No. 3 with 50 additional starts, while OHT Partners rose to No. 4 with a substantial 3,490 more apartments started. Alliance Residential (No. 6, +1,662 starts), Trammell Crow Residential (No. 11, +1,301 starts), and Bozzuto (No. 23, +1,381 starts) also recorded significant year-over-year gains.