Mentioned a story from the AP recently about millennials’ home buying preferences (want to buy, can’t afford it), which leads to:
Some of the cost burden stems from a shift toward people who envision themselves renting for several years and therefore seeking the kinds of amenities more commonly associated with home ownership. Based on searches for rentals on RadPad in June and July, for example, apartments with stainless steel appliances and swimming pools were disproportionately popular in cities with lower homeownership rates such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington.
Which is exactly what we are now seeing in Charlotte. From the Charlotte Observer in an article by Ely Portillo, in an article titled “In new Charlotte apartments, luxury is the rule”:
The high end of Charlotte’s apartment market is pushing even higher with a new crop of luxury apartments hitting the market this year.
Forget the days of white appliances, laminate countertops and vinyl or carpeted floors.
Instead, picture this: yoga rooms and cycling stations in full fitness studios, with virtual workout leaders you can select from an iPad mounted on the wall. Saltwater pools, outdoor grills and fire pits. Billiard tables, poker tables, lounges with free coffee, demonstration kitchens, social hours for residents and, of course, proximity to light rail, breweries and restaurants. Granite or quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances were, of course, included as well, along with hardwoods or tile flooring.
Those amenities were standard at five new apartment properties featured this year in the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association’s annual tour of new projects. Apartment builders feel they have to include those touches to keep up with each other. Some developers on the tour said it’s getting harder to one-up the competition, as even newer features such as virtual gaming rooms and bike workshops rapidly become standard.
