RALEIGH – Rents in Raleigh are still rising but at a significantly lower rate than a year ago – and a growing supply of apartments is helping keep prices in check, says a new study from ApartmentList.com.
Rents increased 2.9% in March from a year earlier – a fraction of the 21.3% year-over-year increase last year compared to 2021, the data shows.
How positive the rent news is: Increases were well under the overall inflation rate.
Overall U.S. inflation rose at an annual rate of some 5% in March – an increase of 0.3% – new federal government data released Friday showed.
” While prices are in fact rising, rent growth is significantly slower today than it was one year ago,” pointed out Rob Warnock, a senior research associated at ApartmentList.com
Why? Supply and demand.
“Supply improvements are definitely going to help Raleigh reign in rent growth in the coming years,” Warnock explained.
“Raleigh metro permitted 21,000 new homes in 2021 and again in 2022 – that’s more than any previous year since 1990 and on a per-capita basis that’s more than any other metro in the country except for Austin TX.
“Supply shortages are what caused the massive rent spike in 2021, so these newly-permitted homes (once built) will help ease that pressure in future years.”
Raleigh rents increased 1.2% in 2021 as the global pandemic finally eased then spiked to more than 21% last year. Housing prices also surged to record levels in 2022 and remain high despite increasing mortgage rates.
A one-room apartment in Raleigh rents for $1,291, the new data shows.
That’s $105 a month higher than in Durham.
But in Charlotte, a one bedroom goes for $1,315.
In Raleigh, a two-bedroom apartment went for $1,468 in March.
That’s $62 more than in Durham but $27 less a month than in Charlotte.
