Apartment security in 2025: Trends, challenges and renters’ concerns

While housing market conditions do seem to be easing as we move towards the midpoint of 2025, the dream of homeownership may still lie a little out of reach to many potential buyers. 

With the average home price in the US up 1.4% year-over-year and mortgage rates forecast to settle around 6% by year-end, now might not be the ideal time to enter the market. But in some good news, the median US asking rent fell to its lowest level since 2022 late last year.

For the typical American, this could make saving while renting a little easier, but multi-tenant and apartment living can come with its own complications. To offer some guidance to people in this position, this post covers apartment security trends, challenges and concerns in 2025.

Renters’ top security concerns

While there are some potential benefits to apartment living, including reduced responsibilities and simplified home management, renters do share a few common concerns worth noting.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, safety and security rank high among renters’ concerns, aligning with wider data that suggests around 75% of Americans currently worry about crime and violence either a ‘great deal’ or a ‘fair amount’. 

For tenants in particular, present concerns about home security can be better-understood by exploring contemporary data on the topic published by the National Apartment Association.

• 71% of renters believe management should do more to provide a safer environment.
• 67% of renters suggest they’re aware of regular crimes at their apartment complex.
• 60% of renters claim they do not feel safe living in their current apartment complex.
• 28% of renters say they live in apartments that feature no existing security solutions.

Apartment security priorities

These insights suggest apartment living for the typical modern renter could be meaningfully improved with just a few pointed adjustments made to standard property security measures. 

Data in the same report found 70% of renters living in apartments with monitored security cameras believe these devices help to reduce crime, while related data published in 2023 suggests 61% of millennial renters see the benefits in electronic access control for apartments.

These insights lay a foundation for apartment security priorities in 2025, but what more can home owners, managers and renters do to facilitate safer, more secure living environments?

Smart home technologies 

The rise of smart home technologies has been a major part of housing discussions in recent years, with reports suggesting that 3 in 5 US consumers will adopt some form of smart home technology by the end of 2025.

Alongside devices and systems that can help to improve energy efficiency and streamline property management, smart home technologies include advanced security solutions like the monitored cameras and electronic access systems referenced by modern renters above.

In a fully-fledged smart home ecosystem, however, these technologies can be integrated to form more proactive apartment security installations. For example, monitored cameras can be linked to sensors and access systems and configured to respond to threats automatically. 

With data from all these systems made viewable within a web-based management system, apartment tenants can best-address some of the key concerns mentioned in above reports.

Alternative housing arrangements

While modern security and property management technologies show promise in improving existing apartment security measures, the cost of these technologies may place them out of reach to some renters and landlords. 

In these situations, a change in the way housing arrangements are viewed may present an opportunity for renters to address security concerns in an alternative manner.

Co-op housing, a practice that sees residents of multi-tenant buildings purchase their homes collectively through a community-owned company, is a prime example of this idea in action.

Residents of co-ops don’t own their homes outright, they instead own shares in a company that owns the building. This practice is becoming increasingly popular in high-density areas where housing challenges are prominent, like New York City for example, where co-ops make up over 25% of all residential stock.

This arrangement not only helps to position apartment security as a shared responsibility shouldered and managed by actual residents, but can also provide a more realistic avenue towards home ownership for renters struggling to enter the property market.

Final word

While the housing market does show signs of promise for the future, taking a first step onto the property ladder may still seem out of reach for many Americans.

Apartment living can offer a chance for prospective buyers to save a little while waiting for better conditions, especially with average asking rents falling in recent years, but renting at present can come with some significant challenges.

Apartment security ranks high among priorities for modern renters, with many feeling unsafe in existing complexes. However with support from advanced technologies, or by exploring alternative housing arrangements, renters’ concerns can be meaningfully addressed.

Emma Williams is the founder and CEO of seene.online.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.