Raleigh-Durham Multifamily Report – November 2023
Rent growth turned negative in the Triangle as 2024 drew closer.
Despite starting 2023 on a strong note, Raleigh-Durham’s multifamily market felt the impact of the cooling economy in the third quarter. Rates contracted 0.2 percent, to an overall average of $1,597, 10 basis points below the national rate. On a year-over-year basis, rent development in the metro was -1.5 percent, while the national rate remained positive, at 0.8 percent.
Unemployment in the Triangle stagnated at 3.2 percent between June and August, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, job growth was 60 basis points above the national average, at 2.6 percent as of July. The most new positions were added in professional and business services and education and health services, accounting for a combined 15,300 jobs. In the third quarter, Apple filed development plans for the first phase of its Research Triangle campus, which is slated to add 3,000 positions at full buildout.
Deliveries burgeoned, with a total of 5,167 units coming online in the first three quarters of the year, already surpassing 2022’s total (3,526 units) during the same time period. However, transaction activity softened, with only $1 billion in multifamily assets traded during the first nine months of 2023. Although significantly higher than the $189,597 national average, the per-unit price took a slide, to $212,624.