RALEIGH – A new report ranks Raleigh among the 10 most affordable major metropolitan areas when it comes to renting, but rent prices in both Raleigh and in Durham continue to soar. The median rental price of renting in Raleigh is now $1,561, up 20.7 percent compared to a year ago.
The report, conducted by Realtor.com, ranked Raleigh the 10th most affordable city among the 50 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States. But the report notes that even in these areas where rents are more affordable studied, “rents are growing faster than incomes and taking up a larger share of paychecks than before.”
The higher rents come as the real estate market for homes in Wake County continues to soar as well with median prices soaring to a new high at $420,000 in February.
Cost of living
For some, the rental price inflation has, or may soon, force them out of homes or apartments where they’d otherwise prefer to stay.
Consider this: a 20% year-over-year increase on a lease of $1,300 per month signed a year ago would equate to a new lease rate of $1,560 per month this year, a difference of $260 in the monthly budget.
“Regardless of whether they rent or own, most households find housing costs to be their largest expense,” said John Quinterno, a professor at Duke University, in an interview with WRAL TechWire. “The greater the proportion of income they devote to housing, the less they have to spend on everything else.”
Jackson Powell lives in Carborro. He just moved from Georgia. He said he had to scale down on some of his desired amenities because rent was just too high.
Triangle renters see price jumps, struggle to make ends meet
He pays $850 a month and his rent just increased by $200 dollars.
“My experience has been like ‘wow the cost-of-living has definitely gone up and with gas prices going up as well things just don’t lineup as much,”” said Powell. “It’s very concerning because, as a valued resident, I’m saying why is the price when I was paying a certain rent wise changed?”
And, as inflation across the entire U.S. economy reached a 40-year high in February, the prices of other consumer goods have increased as well, most notably food and gasoline. The latest available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracked inflation at 7.9 percent between February 2021 and February 2022.
Priced out
Carla Grant had lived in Cumberland County for more than a decade. But she chose to relocate to the Triangle about three years ago, because she believed there would be more, and better economic opportunity for her and for her two children, Grant told WRAL TechWire in an interview earlier this month.
But even though she moved to take a better job, based at the Raleigh-Durham Airport, her pay rate of $12 per hour was not enough to qualify her to rent an apartment in the area.
So she took a second job, working for the U.S. Census Bureau.
That qualified her to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Brier Creek for $1,340, where she’s lived since she moved.
“The lease is due for renewal in July,” said Grant. “My income just went up, to $15 per hour, but that is still not enough to qualify for the apartment that I am currently in, if I were to reapply.”
And as her children, a boy and a girl, are now teenagers, a two-bedroom apartment isn’t Grant’s preferred option anymore.
Though Grant would prefer to purchase her own home, the price run up in the housing market makes it nearly impossible for her to compete, she told WRAL TechWire.
“I would much prefer to purchase a home right now, but I make $15 per hour,” she said. “Even at $18 per hour, that’s not enough.”
But Grant’s options to rent aren’t necessarily any better, she said. “I’m looking at three-bedroom apartments, and it’s like they’re all listed at $2,000 per month.”
“I don’t know what to do,” said Grant. “I went to see one apartment complex, and they’d just that morning signed five leases for the available three-bedroom apartments, all to Google engineers, all for $2,000 per month.”
Grant has considered other options, but they come with trade-offs, she noted. “With the income I have, I would have to move somewhere that has an hour, an hour and a half commute, just to afford it,” she said. “I have great work experience, great work history, but I need to be find a place to live.”
Rental prices soar 39% in Durham, 22% in Raleigh since pandemic began
Digging into the data
According to the Realtor.com report, the overall median rent in Raleigh is $1,561, up 20.7 percent from a year ago, when the median rent was close to $1,300 across the entire data set.
Rents have increased by greater percentages in each subcategory in the data set, however, with studio apartments increasing by 26.6 percent in one year, with median rental rates now at $1,472 per month.
According to the data, the median rent for a one-bedroom is now $1,440, up 22.4 percent compared to a year ago, and the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment is now $1,750.
That’s up 21.7 percent from a year ago, when the median two-bedroom rental price was approximately $1,440, a difference of $310 in a monthly budget.
“While the Triangle’s housing market may be more affordable than those found in other tech-focused areas, the region has moved in the wrong direction in recent years,” said Quinterno. “Existing residents may find themselves forced to leave their neighborhood and move farther away or out of the region entirely.”
A rental analysis conducted by Zumper found that in Durham, rents are rising for two-bedroom units, too. While a year ago, the median rental rate in the data set, which was shared with WRAL TechWire upon request, was $1,400 per month, it is now $1,500 per month. That’s an increase of 7.14 percent year-over-year, or $100 per month.
Triangle rent prices cool, but watch out for more expensive housing in 2022
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