North and South Carolina Set to Gain Nearly 60,000 New Apartment Units

More than 59,400 units are under construction across North and South Carolina with an expected 45,700 of those units coming online in 2025. Virtually all of those units underway across the Carolinas are concentrated in just six of the region’s 10 markets, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics.

The largest market in the Carolinas, Charlotte, had 25,064 units underway at the end of 2024. No stranger to new apartment supply, Charlotte has grown total inventory nearly 29% over the last five years, well above the national pace of roughly 11%. The 18,863 units expected to deliver to Charlotte in 2025 would set a 29-year high. With those new units, Charlotte’s existing unit base would expand another 7.8%. Job growth and population gains have been strong across the state, helping drive demand for all those new units.

Raleigh/Durham had 13,799 units under construction in 4th quarter 2024, with 10,353 of those units expected to complete in 2025. Those new units would increase the unit base 5.0% this year. That growth rate comes on the heels of a prolonged supply wave as this market has grown total inventory 25% in the last five years. Spurring demand, Raleigh/Durham’s young adult population of 20- to 34-year-old cohort grew 8.4% from 2018 to 2023, compared to 0.3% growth nationally.

Punching above its weight in terms of new supply, developers are expected to add 3,509 units this year in Asheville, a small market in western North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. That would grow the existing unit count (26,745 units) a massive13.1%, notably above the U.S. norm. Over the past five years, the inventory base in Asheville has expanded 19.7%. The population in Asheville increased 5.2% from 2018 to 2023, stimulating demand.  

Jumping to the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, supply in Charleston is expected to climb with 3,867 units under construction. The majority of those units (3,213 units) are projected to complete in 2025, expanding total inventory 4.2% this year. This market has experienced a much smaller supply wave then neighboring markets as total inventory here has only grown 4.9% in the last five years.

Apartment inventory in Greensboro has expanded roughly 7% over the past five years. At the end of 2024, there were 3,458 units under construction with 2,664 of those units scheduled to complete in 2025. That would expand total inventory another 2.3% this year.

Finally, Wilmington has come on the radar of many developers as some 3,212 units were underway at the end of 2024. This year, 2,438 of those units are expected to complete, growing total inventory 8.0%. In the last five years, this market has grown total inventory a staggering 36%, spurred by solid population growth during that time as well.

Worth mentioning, four other markets round out the 10 largest apartment markets in North and South Carolina.

A vacation resort city on South Carolina’s Atlantic coast, Myrtle Beach will get 2,168 units of new supply in 2025, growing inventory 4.0%.  Population swelled a whopping 15% in Myrtle Beach from 2018 to 2023, significantly above the U.S. average (2.9%). Over the five-year period, Myrtle Beach saw its population of individuals 55 years and over grow more than 32%. Myrtle Beach’s existing unit count has expanded 31.2% over the last five years.

Greenville/Spartanburg has also seen supply mount alongside a growing population. Population grew 8.0% from 2018 to 2023 in Greenville, fueled by growth in the metro’s 20- to 34-year-old cohort. During the past five years, inventory in Greenville ballooned 20.8%. Another 1,200 units are expected to deliver in 2025, increasing inventory 1.5%.

Finally, two smaller Carolinas markets – Fayetteville and Columbia – are both expected to add roughly 700 units in 2025.