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Apartment Vacancies in North Carolina's Triad Climb - 040509
Digested From "Apartment Vacancy Rate Continues to Climb"
Greensboro News & Record (NC) (04/30/09) by Richard M. Barron

In North Carolina, the Triad region's apartment vacancy rate was higher at the end of this year's first quarter than it was a year ago. A new Real Data report shows that 13.1 percent of the 54,520 apartments in the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point area were vacant as of March 31 compared with 10.3 percent of 53,575 a year earlier. More than 4,000 new apartments have been added to the local rental supply in the last couple of years. Demand, however, lags well behind that. The poor economy and mounting job losses were cited as the main reasons by Real Data researchers. Construction of new apartments has declined substantially, however, with 1,659 apartments under construction in March compared with 2,416 a year earlier. According to analysts, the rising vacancy rate is keeping lease rates lower. The average monthly rent for an apartment of just over 900 square feet is $634, a decrease from $645 a year ago. Real Data forecasts that apartment supply will outpace demand through 2011 in the Triad, with the vacancy rate on pace to top 14 percent by the end of December. Rents, meanwhile, will continue to decline as apartment owners increase their concessions to entice new residents. According to Real Data, Greensboro currently has the most apartments under construction, primarily in the city's southern and northwestern parts.
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