Is your rent going up in Charlotte? You’re not alone, data show
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Housing in Charlotte
A closer look at the real estate market, affordability and advice for buyers.
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If your apartment search in Charlotte seems a lot more expensive than a year ago, you’re not alone.
After a brief reprieve in 2020, when some landlords held off on raising rents, increases are roaring back across the Charlotte metro area, according to data from real estate research firm CoStar.
Rents across the metro area are up 16.7% year-over-year from last September, with an average rent $1,430 per month, according to CoStar data. The data show what many renters are paying in the 10-county region that makes up the Charlotte metro area.
Renters are seeing a significant departure from annual rent growth for the area in recent years, which has been around 5%.
The analysis uses rents offered to new tenants — not renewals for current residents — for buildings with five or more units, such as apartment complexes and other multi-family housing. The rent data includes units of all sizes and number of bedrooms.
South End, Rowan County and Huntersville/Cornelius saw the biggest price increases of the area sub-markets CoStar tracks.
“It’s almost like we’ve seen two years of rent growth in one,” said Chuck McShane, “It’s a nationwide phenomenon, particularly concentrated in Sunbelt cities like Charlotte.”
Where are rents increasing most?
Some of the biggest increases have been in suburban areas outside Charlotte, including Rowan, Iredell, Cabarrus and York counties, which all saw year-over-year rent increases greater than 18%.
But Charlotte’s core is also rebounding. Apartment rents in uptown increased 13.1%, while South End saw a 22.6% increase, the largest jump anywhere in the metro area.
Currently, uptown has the highest rents in the area, with an average asking price of $1,968.
The metro area’s lowest prices are in Rowan County, where the average asking rent is now $1,075, though the county experienced a 22% increase in rents from the previous September.
What’s driving the increase?
In short, blame COVID-19.
After many people put off moves in 2020, there is pent up demand, McShane said.
Charlotte is still a strong seller’s market for home sales, with rising prices and low inventory. That can make it challenging for first-time buyers, who find themselves renting longer than they expected.
Add that to pandemic-related construction delays, and it’s meant fewer new units for renters and higher prices.
The price increases are also spurred by an acceleration of existing migration trends, McShane said, as residents from the Northeast and Midwest move to the Southeast.
Those factors have led to what McShane calls “historically low” vacancy rates in Charlotte, currently at 4%. It is the lowest vacancy rate since 2000, as far back as Costar has recorded.
But are these eye-popping figures here to stay?
“We’re hopeful that this is a one-year phenomenon,” McShane said of the steep price increases. “We think that rental growth rates are going to normalize as we get into 2022.”
That might mean returning to rent growth rate around 4 to 5% annually, as it’s been in recent years, he said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 10:04 AM.
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