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southeast

The 25 Best Affordable Places to Live in the U.S. in 2019

According to the US Census Bureau, a household that pays 30 percent or more of their income on housing costs are considered to be burdened. Charlotte and Raleigh both are ranked #25 and #19 out of the top affordable places to live in the US with affordability in the low 20% range for both cities.

Source: Real Estate US News

Full List HERE

4 Multifamily Development Trends to Watch in 2019

Changing demographics, shifting social values, and evolving development landscapes all continue to drive a surging, nationwide demand for multifamily housing. With empty-nesters looking to downsize, millennials staying single longer, and a general desire for a more convenient and social lifestyle, more and more “renter-by-choice” Americans are forgoing mortgages for lease agreements.

As demand for new housing units continues to drive the multifamily sector in 2019, developers are tasked with finding new ways to satisfy the growing need for apartments.

Full article HERE

Source: Multifamily Executive

Southeast Multifamily Outlook Holding Strong

Several Southeast markets continue to top national lists for job and population growth, causing investors to pour capital into the region’s multifamily sector as they chase a new wave of demand that’s driving the current market expansion.

ARA and Berkeley Point Capital’s 2Q 2018 United States Multihousing Market Report includes several Southeast hubs among its top 25 for sales volume in the past 12 months: Atlanta ($7.3 billion); Orlando, Fla., ($5.6 billion); South Florida ($4.5 billion); and Charlotte/Raleigh–Durham, N.C., ($4.2 billion).

The Southeast also notched the largest per-unit pricing gains of any other region, at 8.6% year over year. Additionally, its key metros benefit from migration fueled by high income-tax–rate states, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California.

Full article HERE

Source: Multifamily Executive

The U.S. Apartment Sector Would Continue to Remain Strong Even in a Recession

Even if there is an economic downturn in the near future, the apartment sector is likely to hold up, according to industry experts.

“Apartments are still resilient against a possible recession,” says Andrew Rybczynski, senior consultant for CoStar Group Portfolio Strategy.

Though the high end of the market may be feeling the strain of overbuilding, the sector overall is benefitting from long-term trends that should continue to fill apartment units for the foreseeable future.

“In 2005 and 2006, we knew we were living on borrowed time. We knew the fundamentals didn’t makes sense,” says John Sebree, director of the national multi housing group with real estate services firm Marcus & Millichap. “Today, the apartment industry fundamentals are so strong, I don’t think a potential recession would affect us that much.”

Full article HERE

Source: National Real Estate Investor

Raleigh-Durham Poised for Another Year of Strong Growth

Economic momentum continues to build throughout the Raleigh-Durham region. Even as growth has ramped up nationwide, the Triangle region remains one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. National real GDP growth will likely end 2018 at 2.9%, backed by robust consumer spending and fiscal stimulus. We anticipate growth to moderate slightly to a still-solid 2.6% rate in 2019, as some of these tailwinds fade. The Raleigh-Durham area will continue to play a starring role in the national economic growth story, given the area’s booming tech and life sciences clusters which continue to attract new businesses and residents to the area. Raleigh ranks as the 8th fastest growing major metropolitan area in terms of real GDP growth from 2011 to 2017. The combined statistical area has added 240,000 residents during this period, lifting its population to 2.2 million. The region’s economic success is most clearly evident in the Triangle’s labor market. Both the Raleigh-Cary and Durham-Chapel Hill metro areas have seen their unemployment rates fall over the course of the past year and now sit well below the national rate at 3.1% and 3.2%, respectively. This comes as no surprise as the region has also been adding jobs at a pace well above the rest of the country. As of November, Raleigh payrolls have surged 3.2% year-over-year, propelled in large part by a booming tech industry. Job growth in Durham was slightly more moderate, but still grew 2.0%, which is ahead of the 1.7% growth seen nationwide. We suspect Durham’s slightly more modest expansion may also be underestimating growth. The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, which is a more complete accounting of payrolls and lags the monthly survey data by six months, shows significantly stronger job growth in Durham’s key education & health and professional & business services sectors, suggesting the preliminary estimates of job growth will be revised higher to a rate more consistent with neighboring Raleigh. Furthermore, overall employment growth in both metro areas has accelerated more recently, making the prospects for growth throughout 2019 increasingly bright.

Full PDF HERE

Source: Wells Fargo Economics Group

Charlotte job growth continues it’s growth trajectory

CHARLOTTE — Amazon nixed Charlotte’s $270 million economic incentives package, snubbing the Queen City in the process.  But with the announcement of four major economic development initiatives in the past four weeks that are set to add as many as 2,715 good paying jobs to the economy, the Queen City intends to cultivate a strong workforce to attract and retain companies and skilled individuals.

Companies expand in locations where they can either find talent or attract talent to join the region, said Tracy Dodson, assistant city manager for the City of Charlotte.

“If you build a great city, and you build a great region, you attract the talent and you retain the talent,” said Dodson.  “When there’s a city within a region where people want to live, companies can thrive, and their employees can thrive.”

And Charlotte appears to be attracting and retaining talent, with the region growing at nearly 14 percent since 2010, ranking among the top 35 fastest-growing cities by population in 2017 by the U.S. Census Bureau.

That’s more than 300,000 people that have relocated to Charlotte in seven years, and the Queen City nets roughly 60 new residents per day.  And that’s good for Charlotte, said Dodson, and good for companies that are expanding or looking to relocate to the region.

“People want to be here,” said Dodson.  “We’re trying to leverage that with companies.”

Full article HERE

Source: WRAL Tech Wire

Surprise: This Southern Hub Might Have the Best Talent Pipeline in Tech

North Carolina is home to a bustling epicenter for tech startups, brainy talent, and killer barbecue.

A hyper-educated workforce means the Research Triangle, the North Carolina region comprising Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh--Inc.'s No. 3 Surge City--has a booming and brainy startup scene. Once known for tobacco and textiles, the area has reinvented itself as a hub equally well-versed in tech and food.

Startup Neighborhoods

Most residents never thought they'd see the day, but downtown Durham is now a cultural and entrepreneurial hotbed. American Tobacco Campus, once a crime-ridden stretch of abandoned cigarette factories, is now a sprawling expanse of outdoor cafés, green space, and startup offices. Sports-scheduling app maker Teamworks is around the corner from the massive American Underground co-working space, which houses more than 80 companies, including fintech startup LoanWell.

Raleigh's Warehouse District, another recently revitalized precinct, is home to Videri Chocolate Factory, as well as HQ Raleigh's 20,000-square-foot flagship co-working space. Lunchgoers hit the original Happy + Hale for ahi poke bowls and cold-pressed juices.

$96,173

Average salary of a software engineer here --17 percent below the national average.

Source: Glassdoor

$1.1 billion

Funding raised by North Carolina startups in 2017, up 36 percent from the previous year.

Source: Council for Entrepreneurial Development

$25.23

The average annual asking office rent per square foot.

Source: JLL's Q2 2018 Office Insight report on the Raleigh-Durham market

47 percent

Portion of the local talent pool with a bachelor's or higher degree.

Source: JLL's Q2 2018 Office Insight report on the Raleigh-Durham market

The Downtown Chapel Hill area, located at the northwest corner of the UNC campus, is home to a Google outpost and a handful of co-working spaces.

Talent Pipeline

The home to Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and NC State offers a hyper-educated workforce (ahead of San Francisco, according to NerdWallet). All three schools have well-regarded entrepreneurship programs, as well as angel funds through which alumni can invest in current students' ventures. The area's startups are software-heavy, thanks in part to the schools' strong engineering and computer science studies, but there are plenty of exceptions, like beekeeping startup Bee Downtown, which Leigh- Kathryn Bonner founded while at NC State.

UNC-backed Launch Chapel Hill offers a 22-week accelerator program that accepts eight to 12 startups. Graduates include Seal the Seasons, which freezes and distributes farmers' crops.

Full Article HERE

Source: Inc.com

Raleigh ranked #2 iN "Top Ten Places to Live" by Time

You don’t have to empty your savings account to afford city living in America—at least not in these locations.

Urban areas offer a gateway to culture or a medley of activities, but they typically come with a high price tag. That’s why MONEY crunched the numbers to find big cities—those with a population of 300,000 or more—with the best of all worlds: attractions, iconic neighborhoods, a relatively low cost of living, and promising job growth.

Here are our top 10 picks for best big cities to live in. (See MONEY’s full 2018 ranking of the Best Places to Live in America.)

#2: RALEIGH, NC

Average Family Income: $82,021

  • Median Home Price: $263,000

  • Projected Job Growth (2017-2022): 9.6%

Part of North Carolina’s tri-city university hub, called the Triangle, along with Durham and Chapel Hill, Raleigh is home to a relatively young, diverse, and educated population.

Like Austin, Raleigh is a hotspot for employment seekers: Moody’s Analytics projects the area’s jobs will grow 9.6% by 2022. Forbes this year ranked Raleigh among the top 10 cities for jobs, owing in part to its 17.25% job growth over the past five years. And people are listening: There’s been a 13% increase in population since 2010, according to MONEY’s Best Places to Live database.

Your wallet will feel the benefits too: With an average sales tax of about 7.25% and average property taxes at $2,632, the city’s cost of living is relatively low compared with our other big cities.

As the historically significant birthplace of Andrew Johnson, Raleigh is host to dozens of museums, earning it the nickname Smithsonian of the South. The North Carolina Museum of History reaches back 14,000 years into the state’s past, and at the massive North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, general admission is free.

There’s a strong sense of community as well. Every fall, the North Carolina State Fair draws 1 million visitors to Raleigh for a 10-day festival featuring rides, music, games, and crafts from local artists. Tickets cost about $10 for adults and $5 for children.

Source: Time

Full article HERE

Apartment Vacancy Rates Expected To Increase More Slowly Than Expected

McLEAN, VA–Nothing, it seems, can dent the growth story that is multifamily. Despite a pipeline that is expected to peak in the second half of this year and remain elevated into 2018, Freddie Mac believes that while vacancy rates will increase, they will do so more slowly than expected. “Employment growth is expected to remain near 2016 growth levels and demand for multifamily units to stay strong due to lifestyle preferences and demographic trends,” it explains in its mid-year outlook for the category.

Indeed, forecasts of higher wage growth is expected to spur even more housing demand, it said.

The sum of these trends is that vacancy rates for the rest of 2017 have been revised downward to 4.7%. Meanwhile rent growth is expected to remain strong for the remainder of the year, possibly exceeding the 2016 rate, it said.

Full Article HERE

Source:  Globest.com

 

Employment and Affordability Driving Growth in the U.S. Southeast

The Carolinas

Job growth is solid in the major metropolitan areas of North and South Carolina, with large metro areas accounting for most of the growth in the two states. Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina, rank among the fastest-growing metro areas in the country, says Mark Vitner, managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte.

“This past decade has seen a move back into the urban centers that has benefited the Carolinas’ larger MSAs [metropolitan statistical areas] the most,” he adds. “Young people are flocking back into the cities, and businesses are moving back toward the city center in order to attract those workers.”

Employment in North Carolina is expected to increase 2.3 percent this year and personal income by 4.4 percent, Vitner says. New single-family home starts will expand by 9.5 percent, but following several years of strong gains, multifamily housing starts in North Carolina remain essentially flat. Employment in South Carolina will rise 2.7 percent and personal incomes by 4.7 percent, with new home starts up 7.7 percent and multifamily starts rising 2.5 percent.

“The Carolinas are being driven by a combination of expansions by new industry into the state and some revival in traditional sectors, including textiles and furniture,” adds Vitner. “Retirees moving to the region are helping drive new home construction and growth in health care and professional services. South Carolina continues to benefit from aggressive economic development efforts. Manufacturing activity has held up solidly, with the automotive sector and aerospace industries leading the way.”

Out-of-state capital is flowing into the Carolinas, says Chang.

“Investors are drawn by more affordable entry costs and the potential for higher returns than are available in their home markets,” he says. “The increasing supply of new multifamily properties near downtown cores is keeping institutional investors active. First-year returns in this tier of the market typically begin in the 5 percent range in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro/Winston-Salem [in North Carolina], Greenville/Spartanburg, Columbia, and Charleston [in South Carolina].”

In the Charlotte city center, an estimated 5.3 million square feet (492,000 sq m) of office space, more than 775,000 square feet (72,000 sq m) of retail space, 9,725 housing units, and 2,600 hotel rooms are either under construction or planned, says Jon Wilson, principal at Raleigh-based consulting firm Kimley-Horn.

Kimley-Horn is involved with a number of developments, including Atlanta-based Portman Holdings’ 19-story, 370,000-square-foot (34,000 sq m) 615 South College, which is scheduled to be completed early this summer.

“The city continues to be a hot spot for a highly educated and skilled workforce—some 17,500 new degreed residents move to Charlotte each year—and improved mobility will play a role in catalyzing future growth,” Wilson says. Later this year, the Lynx Blue Line extension will be completed, allowing people to travel on light rail from Interstate 485 in southwest Charlotte through Uptown to the University of North Carolina–Charlotte in the northeast, he says. The city also broke ground in mid-January on the second phase of the CityLynx Gold Line streetcar.

Walkable urban and mixed-use communities are definitely on the rise in many of the state’s cities, says Gary Cline, president and managing principal at Cline Design Associates of Raleigh.

“As our area rapidly grows, more people are seeking residency in urban cores and mixed-use communities where they can walk or bike to work, dining, and retail,” Cline says. “The Research Triangle office market has also made a large comeback, with less than 10 percent overall vacancy. Some submarkets like downtown Durham report less than 1 percent vacancy in Class A space.”

Demand is strong for mixed-use developments such as Kane Realty’s Smokey Hollow–Peace Street mixed-use project in Raleigh, which will have 434 multifamily units and 61,000 square feet (6,000 sq m) of retail space, with estimated completion in 2019. The project was designed by Cline Design. Another project in downtown Durham scheduled to begin construction later this year is Northwood Ravin’s Van Alen, which will have 418 units in 12 stories.

Read Full Article HERE

Source: Urban Land Institute

 

Raleigh, Durham region lands on top 10 list of ‘Best Places to Live’ by US News & World Report

 

The Triangle has accrued another accolade – this time from U.S. News & World Report.

Listed as “Raleigh & Durham,” the Triangle ranked seventh on the list of “ Best Places to Live” in the country. Raleigh and Durham are recognized by the federal government as two separate metropolitan areas, though it is not uncommon to see the area referred to as “Raleigh-Durham.”

U.S. News ranked 100 cities using surveys from local residents, and data from the U.S. Census Bureau, FBI and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. It also considered its past rankings for “Best High Schools” and “Best Hospitals.”

The report recognized the region for its unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, average annual salary of $51,150, median home price of $219,466 and an average commute time of 24.6 minutes. “Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are known for their research/technology roots and collegiate rivalries,” says the report. “[It] is luring nearly 80 new residents a day with strong job growth and a high quality of life.”

Full Article HERE

Source: Triangle Business Journal