It’s getting more costly to live in Charlotte apartments. Here’s how much rent is up.

Charlotte renters are paying more for apartments than ever before, and rent increases don’t show signs of stopping.

The average rent in August was $1,175, according to a September market report by Charlotte-based apartment-research company Real Data. That’s up 5 percent from last year.

The increase comes despite tens of thousands of new apartments that are being built or planned to be built across the Charlotte region.

“We’re not necessarily seeing an end to this apartment boom,” said Real Data president Charles Dalton. “It’s going to continue for a little while longer.”

Here are four key points:

Rent is expected to grow even more

The average rent of $1,175 was up $33 from February and $60 from a year earlier. One bedroom units average $1,072, while two bedroom apartments average $1,203. Dalton expects further increases.

“Healthy rent growth should continue through the coming year,” the report said.

Rent is also eating up a bigger portion of many people’s paychecks. Charlotte area renters are spending 24 percent of average monthly wages for their apartment, up from 22 percent five years earlier. That’s still lower than 30 percent of income— the level at which federal guidelines say it gets harder for renters to afford other needs.

The apartment pipeline is still bulging

Across the Charlotte metro area, more than 11,000 units are under construction and another 13,000 are planned, according to the report.

That’s on top of 5,000 new units that were added to the market during the past six months.

“Demand is expected to stay strong over the next year, as another wave of new units comes on-line,” the report said.

Affordable units are scarce

In Mecklenburg County alone, there were 113,471 units tallied in the survey. Of those only 2 percent — or 2,811 — had their rents restricted by some means, Dalton said, to keep them affordable for low-income renters. The average rent for those units was $828.

Meanwhile, 95 percent were market rate apartments, with an average rent of $1,214. Another 2 percent were student housing and 1 percent were a combination of market rate and affordable.

“We’re building less and less affordable units, and that’s a problem,” Dalton said. That makes it difficult for lower income renters to find affordable options, he said.

South End is the hottest spot

The Charlotte sub-market that is the most active includes South End, with 1,950 units under construction. The wave of construction just south of uptown has drawn criticism for being bland, with apartments fitting a mold of five-stories with parking garages facing sidewalks.

But other mixed use developments with office towers, hotels, and retail are aiming to change that.

The growth in South End has largely been fueled by the light rail. But since the light rail extended into the University area, future growth could be along that extension, Dalton said.

This story was originally published October 18, 2018 at 4:18 PM.