Rental Apartment Market Continues to Sizzle

Just when you thought the rental apartment market could not get any hotter, respected research firm Axiometrics reported on its blog that August 2014 saw rent growth at a blistering 4.1% pace across the nation. Occupancy also rose to 95.2%, despite the new supply of apartments being delivered to the market. August market the first time that rent grown exceeded 4% in more than two years.

Even more remarkable, rent growth for 2014 to date now stands at 5.5%, beating 2011 for the strongest rent growth through August of any year since the Great Recession ended.

Axiometrics noted that, despite the new supply being delivered to the market, August’s occupancy rate was “the highest since [they] began reporting monthly in April 2008, and this increase continues to demonstrate we aren’t one bit concerned about the national market, despite all the new supply.” Axiometrics points to continued job growth as the reason that occupancy remains high despite the new supply coming online.

Axiometrics’ blog post noted that metro areas in along the I-85 corridor between Charlotte and Atlanta, where Two Bridges focuses, were among the strongest apartment markets right now. Charlotte had strong annual rent growth of 3.4% and occupancy 20 bps above the national average at 95.4%. Meanwhile, Greenville, South Carolina, continues to be a standout market, showing 6.2% rent growth in August, a 95.8% occupancy rate, and annualized revenue growth of 6.9%.