Apartment demand in Raleigh will grow at one of the fastest rates in the country, according to a new housing report.
In fact, the research estimates that apartment units will increase by 69 percent in the greater Raleigh area by 2030.
Statewide, North Carolina will need to add some 220,000 apartment units in the coming decade and a half. Compare that with a state like Wisconsin, for example, which will add a mere 49,000 apartment homes by 2030, or Maine, which will need only 4,000.
The report was based on research by Hoyt Advisory Services and commissioned by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA).
Apartments are becoming increasingly attractive, not only for Millennials, but for the older generations as well.
"We're experiencing fundamental shifts in our housing dynamics, as more people are moving away from buying houses and choosing apartments instead. More than 75 million people between 18 and 34 years old are entering the housing market, primarily as renters,” said Norm Miller, Principle at Hoyt Advisory Services and Professor of Real Estate at the University of San Diego. "But renting is not just for the younger generations anymore. Increasingly, Baby Boomers and other empty nesters are trading single-family houses for the convenience of rental apartments. In fact, more than half of the net increase in renter households over the past decade came from the 45-plus demographic."
The National Multfamily Housing Council attributes the need for more apartment units to delayed marriages, an aging population and international immigration. Nationwide, the group estimates the country will add 4.6 million apartment units by 2030, or more than 325,000 per year.