RentCafe.com analyzed the 139 largest markets in the U.S. where data was available and ranked them based on five key metrics when it comes to rental competitiveness. These metrics were:

• the number of days apartments stayed vacant
• the percentage of rentals that were occupied
• the number of prospective renters competing for an apartment
• the percentage of renters who renewed their leases
• the share of apartments completed this year

They then used these metrics to calculate a Rental Competitivity Index (RCI) to see how competitive the U.S. rental market was this year.

Here are how the major city/regions ranked in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia:

Market	2023 Score	Vacant Days	Occupancy:	Prospective Renters	Renewal Rate	% Of New Apts
Asheville, NC	110	30	95.50%	12	65.50%	1.30%
Fayetteville, NC	89	30	94.20%	9	66.00%	1.71%
Columbus, GA	74	32	94.00%	8	62.70%	2.30%
Savannah, GA	69	35	94.20%	11	58.50%	2.57%
Greenville, NC	63	37	93.90%	6	62.20%	1.38%
Greenville, SC	60	35	93.30%	9	59.90%	3.28%
The Triangle, NC	58	34	93.60%	8	60.70%	3.80%
Columbia, SC	56	36	93.00%	11	55.20%	0.72%
Charlotte, NC	54	36	93.20%	9	60.50%	4.19%
Macon, GA	50	41	92.90%	9	62.10%	1.68%
Suburban Atlanta, GA	49	44	92.70%	8	64.40%	2.88%
Athens, GA	49	38	92.50%	8	63.60%	5.16%
Charleston, SC	42	37	92.80%	9	57.00%	5.15%
Augusta, GA	39	40	91.30%	7	63.40%	5.51%
Wilmington, NC	37	37	92.30%	7	60.60%	3.54%
Atlanta, GA	35	41	91.90%	9	59.30%	2.07%
Piedmont-Triad, NC	33	42	92.00%	8	60.30%	2.86%

Source: RentCafe

Delinquencies remain low at Freddie Mac (0.29%), Fannie Mae (0.54%) and banks (0.40%). The trouble is brewing in the $67 billion of CMBS, CDO and ABS loans.

Multifamily debt by lender

Debt holder	Percentage	Total held
Agencies and GSEs	48%	$986 billion
Banks and thrifts	30%	$606 billion
Life insurance companies	11%	$223 billion
State/local governments	6%	$115 billion
CMBS, CDO and ABS	3%	$67 billion

Source: Multifamily Dive

The U.S. Census Bureau released their annual population trends data for 2023 yesterday. Americans continue to leave the northeast with the south experiencing the largest inflow of new residents; accounting for 87% of the nation’s growth in 2023.

Top 10 States by Numeric Growth: 2022 to 2023
1. Texas – 473,453
2. Florida – 365,205
3. North Carolina – 139,526
4. Georgia – 116,077
5. South Carolina – 90,600
6. Tennessee – 77,513
7. Arizona – 65,660
8. Virginia – 36,599
9. Colorado – 36,571
10. Utah – 36,498

Top 10 States by Percentage Growth: 2022 to 2023
1. South Carolina – 1.7%
2. Florida – 1.6%
3. Texas – 1.6%
4. Idaho – 1.3%
5. North Carolina – 1.3%
6. Delaware – 1.2%
7. District of Columbia – 1.2%
8. Tennessee – 1.1%
9. Utah – 1.1%
10. Georgia – 1.1%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

As of November 2023, apartment owners are paying an average of $65 per unit per month ($780 annually), up 119% in the last 4 years. Rates averaged $30 per unit per month ($360 annually) in November 2019.

Source: RealPage

The Federal Reserve released multifamily price data through the end of Q3 showing a 2.1% decline quarter-over-quarter and a 16.2% decline year-over-year.

Monthly and annual rent changes through November:

Source:	Month:	Monthly:	Annual:	Vacancy:
Apartment List	November	-0.90%	-1.10%	6.40%
CoStar	November	-0.25%	0.83%	7.31%
Real Page	November	-0.52%	0.16%	N/A
Apartments Advisor	November	-1.83%	-2.83%	N/A
Apartments.com	November	-0.30%	0.80%	N/A
Yardi Matrix	November	-0.35%	0.40%	5.10%
Rent.com	November	-0.57%	-2.09%	N/A
Zillow Single Family Homes	November	-0.20%	3.30%	N/A
Zillow Multifamily	November	-0.30%	2.50%	N/A
Redfin	November	-0.60%	-2.10%	N/A
Realtor.com	November	-0.69%	-0.60%	N/A
	Average:	-0.59%	-0.07%	6.27%

28% of fall 2024 student housing beds were pre-leased through November. This is a record high, and it was also the largest October to November increase (17%) in history.

Removing the last two years of record demand, beds are usually about 20% pre-leased by the end of November. A handful of schools (Tennessee, Purdue, Clemson, Arkansas and Wisconsin) have already pre-leased about 2/3 of their privately owned student housing beds.

Asking rents for student housing grew 7% year-over-year through November while many multifamily markets across the country have experienced declines.

Source: RealPage

An excellent visual walk-through on interest rates, multifamily debt markets, rate caps and the economy.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=egAfwalWX3E%3Fsi%3DQJ9e5P_MwjdLdPfJ

Debt funds and CMBS are getting all the headlines for at-risk loans, but together they represent less than 5% of the $2.1 trillion in multifamily debt. The majority of the riskiest bridge loans were concentrated within debt funds, which represent only $42 billion of the total pie.

Delinquency rates at banks (0.40%), Freddie Mac (0.29%) and Fannie Mae (0.54%) remain extremely low (so far).

Source: Jay Parsons with Real Page

U.S. rents are still digesting the incredible rise during 2021 and the first half of 2022. Rents are below their peak in many markets across the country and continue to fall month-over-month, especially when concessions are taken into account.

Vacancy rates are back to pre-pandemic levels:

One million apartments are currently under construction with new deliveries set to surge throughout 2024 before starting to decline in the second quarter of 2025:

The sun belt is faced with an enormous supply surge. These are high population growth markets, but they have experienced some of the largest rent declines in the country over the last year.

Source: Apartment List