Rentals are filling up in Columbia, South Carolina, as Colliers revealed in a report that occupancy rose by 64 basis points year-over-year to 90.56 percent.
One area in the region that's standing out? That's downtown with its 94.3 percent occupancy rate, which is a record high for the submarket.
"Developers are increasingly placing bets on the downtown submarket as strong demand for walkability contributes," Colliers explained.
Meanwhile, a few other submarkets outperformed Downtown in terms of occupancy, with Outlying Lexington County coming in at 94.60 percent and Kershaw County with an impressive 96.80 percent rate. Fairfield County had the same 94.3 percent rate as Downtown.
Another strong fundamental for multifamily was rent growth, which was up 2.1 percent to $1,326.
Some other categories lagged. For example, net absorption fell to 217 units compared with 221 a year ago. And while deliveries were about a third of what it was (269 units), construction surged from 1,592 units to 2,847, which marks a 30-year high.
"A wave of deliveries in Q3 and early Q4, roughly half in the affordable segment, may dent occupancy in the short term," Colliers warned.
However, the brokerage is optimistic that "steady demand will support a rapid recovery." Plus, Colliers points to Columbia's strong labor market, contributing to multifamily demand in the city.
"Columbia’s multifamily market continues to perform at one of the Southeast’s highest levels," it said.
The top recent sale in the market involved an asset at 2170 N. Lake Dr., which went for $57.6 million. The next two largest were at 500 Carlen Ave and 200 Berryhill Rd., going for $40 million and $36.8 million, respectively.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.