Rent Hikes in Wilmington Trend Above U.S. Norm

The small coastal town of Wilmington outpaced the national norm for annual effective asking rent growth in November 2022. According to data from RealPage Market Analytics, operators pushed effective asking rents up 12.4% in the year-ending November. This was one of the best showings nationwide and was nearly twice the pace of the U.S. average of 6.5%. Additionally, Wilmington's latest performance marked the 25th consecutive month of rent increases above the U.S. norm. Over the last 12 months, less than 500 units were absorbed in Wilmington as 1,308 units completed. Occupancy landed at 94.8%, backtracking 40 basis points (bps) quarter-over-quarter and 300 bps year-over-year. Still, average monthly rent in the North Carolina port city with only 26,912 units sat at $1,546 as of November, just behind Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia ($1,588) and Raleigh/Durham ($1,550), but above neighboring Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach ($1,478).