Charlotte Multifamily Report – August 2024
While the rental market is resilient, it needs time to absorb new stock.
Charlotte fundamentals were encouraging going into the third quarter. Average advertised asking rents were up 0.1 percent on a trailing three-month basis as of June, to $1,583. The metro’s rent movement turned positive in April, after a longer period of contractions, in line with overall U.S. trends. Year-over-year advertised asking rents were still in negative territory, down 2.3 percent. And while occupancy slid 90 basis points in a year, to 93.5 percent, as of May, healthy demand levels are slowly catching up with booming supply.
In the 12 months ending in April, Charlotte employment expanded 1.6 percent, outperforming the U.S. average, which stood at 1.4 percent. The government sector led job growth with 7,800 new positions, or a 4.7 percent expansion, followed by education and health services (6,600). Charlotte unemployment was 60 basis points lower than the national average of 4.0 percent in April. The metro’s diversified economy continues to attract developers. Asana Partners and MRP Realty are gearing up to start developing the metro’s first office-to-mixed-use conversion, dubbed Brooklyn & Church. The partners expect to complete the $250 million project by the end of 2026.
In the first half of 2024, Charlotte deliveries totaled 6,116 units. Growth was more than double the national pace. In addition, the metro had 34,543 units under construction as of June. Yardi Matrix expects 2024 completions to reach 17,359 units, which would be by far Charlotte’s strongest year in the past decade.