Cities With the Highest Number of Move-Ins

Last year, Florida claimed half of the top 10 spots on our list. This year, that stat goes to a rising dynamic duo: North and South Carolina. We see Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, climbing six spots to come in 4th on our list, while North Carolina’s Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville made equally notable gains into the top 10 after ranking below 15th in 2023. 

Even more impressive? The Myrtle Beach, SC/Wilmington, NC, area holds onto its crown as the number one most moved-to city for the second year in a row — a PODS moving trends first! 

Why the love toward the Carolinas? Aside from offering residents a low cost of living, access to the outdoors, and a solid quality of life, it’s possible the rise in popularity of these two states is part of a larger moving trend we’re seeing centered around the Southern Appalachian region. States within this region — Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, and South Carolina — are home to the overwhelming majority of this year’s most moved-to locations and are among some of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. We’ll take a deeper look into this trend later.

What Is the Best State To Live in 2024?

The best state to live in will depend on personal preferences and budget, of course. While we can’t speak for everyone, our latest PODS data suggests that many people have the Carolinas at the top of their lists as the best state to live in. And we can’t blame them; the low cost of living, good quality of life, access to nature, thriving food scene, and vibrant metro areas are easy to fall in love with. 

Where Are Companies Moving to in 2024?

Companies are flocking to southern sunbelt states like Texas, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, and Tennessee, according to global data center Iron Mountain. These cities offer lower operational costs, tax incentives, and better value for employees. 

Cities With the Highest Number of Move-Ins Ranked

The Carolinas Are Seeing Notable New Resident Numbers

Last year, we noted the Carolinas were worth watching, and this year, they’ve not only taken the trophy as the number one spot for new moves but also broken a record. As mentioned above, the Myrtle Beach, SC/Wilmington, NC, area is officially the first spot to top our most moved-to list for two years in a row. 

North Carolina flexed its growth with three cities in the top 10: Charlotte, Raleigh, and Asheville, while Greensboro, NC, finished off our list in 20th. 

It appears movers are getting wind of the many perks of living in the Carolinas, making them two of the most moved-to states in 2024, according to our customer data. Both states offer beautiful beaches, forestlands, mountains, and vibrant metro cities. The cost of living comes in just below the national average and the quality of life is good. Four-season weather, southern charm, history, and dynamic arts, culture, food, and wine scenes are big draws, too. Residents can also look forward to a growing economy (particularly in North Carolina) and lower tax rates than many other U.S. states. 

The median age in popular cities like Charlotte and Raleigh hovers in the mid-30s, while Asheville tends to draw a slightly older demographic with a median age of 40. All three cities have a welcoming vibe, good job market, and creative flair, and they offer an affordable, above-average quality of life.

Cities With the Highest Number of Move-Outs Ranked

Source: PODS

Here are the top three followed by all the cities in North and South Carolina that made the list:

1. Naples, FL 
2. Boise, ID 
3. Colorado Springs, CO 

Source: US News & World Report

After tracking together the last 20 years, the rent growth for single-family attached homes has turned down sharply (now negative), while single-family detached homes continue to see rents growing at 3.4% annually.

Source: CoreLogic

Cap rates and the 10-year treasury do not always move in lockstep. In 2006, cap rates and the 10-year converged just above 5% (almost exactly where cap rates are today).

Over the next 4 years, cap rates rose to almost 7% while the 10-year treasury moved below 3%.

Cap rates reflect sentiment toward real estate. In 2009, rents and multifamily property prices were falling as many tenants lost their jobs and were unable to pay. Buyers required a higher return to take on what they perceived as higher risk.

Source: Avison Young

In 2023, 93,000 new single-family homes for rent were completed. That was 39% more rental homes than in 2022, and the most in any year ever. The breakneck pace is poised to continue this year before easing by 2025.

In March of this year, the average monthly mortgage payment had ballooned to 38% more than the average monthly apartment rent. Rents for new houses often fall somewhere in between.

Source: Wall Street Journal

New Census Bureau data released this week:

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

The data below uses a three-month weighted moving average and color codes by region (West, South, Midwest and Northeast):

Through the first four months of the year, completions (properties that started the construction process in 2020 – 2022) have significantly outpaced new starts.

Source: YieldPro

Current Class A tenants move into the brand-new Class A buildings that are offering rent concessions. Class B tenants move up to Class A apartments, and Class C tenants move up to Class B apartments. Everything trickles up, leaving Class C buildings cutting rents the most to try and attract tenants.

Source: RealPage

The latest RLB quarterly cost report, with data current to mid-Q1 2024, shows that the national average increase in construction costs was 1.29 percent, which is similar to pre-pandemic levels. This compares to 5.85% year-over-year.

Source: RLB Construction Cost Report

CRED iQ’s distress rate for all property types increased from 7.61% to 8.35%, a 74 basis points jump in April. Multifamily saw a whopping increase distress rate increase – from 3.7% in the March print to 7.2% in April.  The increase is mostly attributable to a $1.75 billion loan ($561,000/unit) backed by Parkmerced, a 3,221-unit multifamily property in San Francisco.

CRED iQ’s distress rate aggregates the two indicators of distress – delinquency rate and specially serviced rate – yielding the distress rate The index includes any loan with a payment status of 30+ days or worse, any loan actively with the special servicer, and includes non-performing and performing loans that have failed to pay off at maturity.

The Trepp CMBS Special Servicing Rate leaped in April, rising 80 basis points to reach 8.11%. This marks the largest monthly jump that the rate has experienced in nearly four years, with higher monthly upticks only reached during the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-2020. The biggest movers were by far ‘Other’ properties and multifamily (yellow line), which increased a whopping 236 basis points and 269 basis points, respectively.

And From Bloomberg:

CRE CLO issuance surged to $45 billion in 2021, a 137% increase from two years earlier, when buyers of apartment blocks sought to profit from the wave of workers moving to the Sun Belt from big cities. Three-year loans would give them time to complete upgrades and refinance, the thinking went.

Fast forward to today and the debt underpinning many of the bonds is coming due for repayment at a time when there’s less appetite for real estate lending, insurance costs have skyrocketed and monetary policy remains tight. Hedges against borrowing cost increases are also expiring and cost significantly more to purchase now.

Those blows helped increase multifamily assets classed as distressed to almost $10 billion at the end of March, a 33% rise since the end of September, according to data compiled by MSCI Real Assets.

Source: CRED iQ, Trepp & Bloomberg