According to The Charlotte Observer, Mark Vitner, an economist for Wells Fargo is predicting more growth for the region especially in the suburbs. In 2017, Charlotte was number six on the list for fastest growing metro areas, with an influx of millennials getting most of the credit but also causing concern. “Where millennials land today is not necessarily where they’re going to settle,” said Vitner, “they’re a restless generation.”
And developers are building at a rapid pace to meet that demand. Charlotte’s apartment market has grown close to 31 percent since the end of the recession, according to a 2018 report from apartment analysis and property management company RealPage. That’s the highest percentage growth of any city in the U.S.
Vitner said there’s some concern that there’s not enough demand for the scores of apartments being built. Vacancy rates in Charlotte are now 7.5 percent, up from a year ago, according to his report. “It’s really hard to avoid having periodic overbuilding because the economy generally doesn’t slow gradually,” he told the Observer.
Vitner said growth is picking up in the suburbs, largely due to the lack of affordability in uptown and its surrounding neighborhoods. He pointed to areas like south Charlotte’s Waverly, where developers are turning what was once a golf course and farmland into a mixed-use development. “It’s only been in the last couple years that we’ve seen the suburbs begin to come back in a meaningful way,” he said in his speech.
