US apartment buildings have tipped toward heat pumps

Heat pumps have become the standard choice in new U.S. housing. In 2025, 53% of newly built apartment buildings included heat pumps, up from 46% the year before. Heat pumps are electric units that both heat and cool a home, running on the same technology as an air conditioner but able to reverse and warm a space too. New houses are close behind, with 48% built with heat pumps last year. Overall, most new homes built in 2025 had some form of electric heating, either heat pumps or less-efficient electric-resistance systems: 78% of new apartment units and 56% of new houses.

Builders point to a few reasons for the shift. Heat pump technology has improved, and demand for air conditioning has grown as heat waves become more common. Heat pumps cost more upfront than a gas furnace alone, but can compete on price with a furnace-plus-AC setup. Skipping gas hookups also saves builders money on infrastructure, since electric-only construction avoids the cost of running gas lines. A federal tax credit that gave developers up to $5,000 per efficient housing unit likely helped too, though it expired last month.

Where you live still matters. States like California, Colorado, and Washington have building codes that push new construction toward all-electric heating, while other states have no such rules. Even without those mandates, though, builders in many regions are choosing heat pumps anyway, so the technology is spreading even in places without policies requiring it.