Despite this being the peak season for the rental market, rent growth remained sluggish in May. Prices inched up another 0.5% month-over-month, similar to April and slightly lower than March. Rents are up just 1.9% so far in 2023, and in nearly half of all big cities, prices today are lower than they were one year ago. Of course, regional variation exists, and a handful of markets continue to boom, but the national numbers speak to a continued, broad cooldown of the rental market.For the latest data, you can check out the May Rent Report here. Some highlights include:
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Rents in Charlotte increased 0.4% in May, compared to a 0.5% increase nationwide.
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Year-over-year rent growth in Charlotte now stands at +1.4%, down from +17.5% one year ago. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, citywide rents have risen a total of 24.7%.
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Today the median rent in Charlotte is $1,327 for a one-bedroom unit and $1,454 for a two-bedroom unit. And the citywide apartment vacancy rate stands at 8.3%, up 2.6 percentage points from this time last year.
Surprisingly, the highest rental rate growth for our region continues to be Gastonia, with a year-over-year rent growth of 8.2%.
