The apartment market performance in Fayetteville, NC has been steadily improving over the course of the past few years and reached new heights in 2021. The market, which has a notably smaller and less expensive apartment base than nearby Charlotte, saw one of the nation’s strongest rent growth performances in the year-ending April, with prices growing 11.8%. In comparison, rents were up 1.7% nationwide in the past year. Helping rents take off in 2021 was the foundation of strength this market displayed in 2020. When the U.S. overall started cutting rents in May 2020, in reaction to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, Fayetteville operators held steady and then really started to kick price increases into high gear starting in July 2020. Giving operators the confidence to hold onto – and then accelerate – rent growth, occupancy in Fayetteville remained strong throughout the past year as well. As of April 2021, occupancy was at 97.5%, ahead of the year-earlier figure by 90 basis points.
