Record breaking price hikes strain Triad renters

A new report from a real estate research firm indicates that monthly rents across the country rose on average by roughly 11% last year — a new record. And that increase was nearly doubled in the Triad.

Of the metropolitan statistical areas with at least a quarter million residents, several North Carolina cities were among those that saw the largest change in rents from the first quarter of 2020 to 2022. The report from CoStar Group indicates that Fayetteville, Asheville, and the Triangle area jumped roughly 22% with Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem not far behind at about 20%. 

Piedmont Triad Apartment Association Executive Director Michael McKinney says contributing factors include inflation, rising property value assessments and taxes, and supply chain bottlenecks.

“Many times, our management companies get a quote for materials for units and before the week is up they get a new invoice where the prices have doubled,” says McKinney.

He adds another big contributor: labor.

“Since COVID the attitude around working people has changed,” he says. “People have jumped industries altogether. There are a lot of vacant positions in which we're trying to fill. And our community managers and management companies have had to increase the salaries and even pay bonuses to get and maintain workers and so that labor cost is real.”

And consumers bear much of that burden — particularly among people of color. According to a recent National Low Income Housing Coalition study, minimum-wage workers can no longer afford a two-bedroom rental. Census Bureau estimates indicate more than half of Black and Hispanic families rent.