As housing demands surge across the U.S., contractors are racing to keep up—especially in the new home and multifamily development sectors. Whether you’re bidding on a sprawling suburban community or a luxury high-rise, accurate and efficient estimating is critical to staying competitive and profitable.
Why This Sector is Booming
Multifamily construction is having a moment—and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.
- According to a recent LBM Dealers Report, multifamily units under construction are up 9.7%. This reflects a sustained increase in demand across both urban and suburban markets.
- Homeownership is becoming less attainable. Rising mortgage rates and property prices are pushing more Americans to rent.
- Lumber dealers report a 12.1% rise in multifamily sales (LBM Dealers Report).
- A growing number of cities are incentivizing multifamily developments to address housing shortages and affordability issues.
- The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) projects the U.S. will need 4.3 million new apartment units by 2035 to meet demand.
As single-family home ownership becomes less attainable due to rising interest rates and affordability constraints, multifamily housing is emerging as a long-term growth sector. For contractors, this translates to bigger opportunities—but also bigger risks if your estimating process isn’t dialed in.
The Challenges of Estimating Multifamily Projects
Unlike single custom homes, new home developments and multifamily projects require a more complex estimating process. You’re often dealing with:
- Repetitive layouts across multiple units
- Multiple trades coordinating simultaneously
- Larger takeoff volumes and more data to manage
- Short bid timelines and intense competition
Accuracy and speed are everything—and that’s where STACK comes in.
Why STACK is Built for These Jobs
STACK offers a cloud-based takeoff and estimating platform that’s perfectly suited for high-volume residential and multifamily projects. Here’s why:
- Fast, Repeatable Takeoffs: Create one detailed takeoff for a unit, then easily duplicate and adjust it across the entire building or community layout.
- Accurate Estimates in Less Time: STACK combines takeoff and estimating in a single platform, reducing double entry and human error.
- Cloud Access Anywhere: Whether you’re in the office, on the jobsite, or working with remote teams, STACK makes collaboration seamless.
- Integration-Ready: STACK connects with project management, ERPs, and more to streamline preconstruction to project execution and handoff.
- Prebuilt Assemblies and Cost Databases: STACK includes trade-specific assemblies and cost data integrations for framing, drywall, painting, finishes, and more—ideal for multifamily and home development projects.
Speed Up Takeoffs with Floor Plan AI
Multifamily and new home developments often come with dozens of repeatable layouts—and manually tracing every floor plan wastes valuable time. STACK’s Floor Plan AI uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect and label key elements in your floor plans, including walls, doors, flooring, windows, and more.
With just a few clicks, you can generate accurate measurements for square footage, linear footage, and surface areas—no more hours spent clicking around PDFs. You’ll get:
- Faster takeoffs for high-volume unit layouts
- Automatic object detection of common construction elements
- Color-coded visuals for easy review and verification
- Consistency across estimates, reducing human error
Whether you’re estimating for flooring, paint, drywall, or finishes, Floor Plan AI helps your team move faster and bid more accurately.
Explode into Time Savings with this Essential Tool
Once you’ve created a takeoff, STACK’s Explode tool lets you break that data down by room, unit, or area—without having to remeasure anything. It’s the perfect solution for multifamily jobs where you need to estimate work by individual apartment, floor, or phase. Get better visibility where materials and labor are needed in these standardized units
What contractors building multifamily projects benefit from most with Explode:
- Framing: Measuring and counting joists and rafters, including horizontal and pitched
- Roofing: Measuring and counting roofing seams
- Interiors: Measuring and counting ceiling grid, counting intersections, and counting ceiling tiles
- Flooring: Measuring and counting carpet seams and counting floor tiles and intersections
If you’re bidding on new home developments or multifamily housing, it’s not just about getting your number right—it’s about getting it right fast. STACK gives you the power to do both.
