Low vacancy rate, influx of people create rental gap in Asheville area

A low vacancy rate and an influx of people mean this region is facing a broad rental gap, a national consultant said at a meeting of elected officials and others involved with housing issues Tuesday.

Currently vacancy rates for apartments in a surveyed four-county area — Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania — is 1 percent, according to the report by Bowen National Research presented at the meeting at the U.S. Cellular Center.

A "healthy" vacancy rate is considered around 5 percent, said consultant Patrick Bowen, whose company is based in Pickerington, Ohio.

"To me the gap is what you should focus on. These are short-term housing priorities for a community," Bowen told the crowd that included City Council members and officials from all four counties.

Bowen calculated the housing gap looking at growth, households living in substandard housing and units in the development pipeline. He added those to the number of units needed to bring vacancies to a healthy level.

A healthy level means there's enough supply that owners feel pressure to lower prices and maintain the apartments, he said.

His calculation showed the region needs 5,575 rentals to fill the gap.

The survey looked at households with incomes ranging from under $15,000 to $75,000.

Bowen said this region was unusual for two aspects — its low vacancy rate and the fact that the housing gap exists across all income levels.

"A lot of time, you'll have two income groups with the biggest gap. Yours is across the board," he said.

In terms of other demographics, the gap is slightly less among senior renters — people 55 and older.

Among the region's specific areas, Asheville has a vacancy rate of 0.9 percent, while Buncombe County as a whole has a 0.8 percent rate. Apartments are most available in Henderson County, which still has a low rate of 2.4 percent.

Bowen said the region in many ways is like the state of Vermont, which also has low vacancy rates. But Vermont isn't growing as much.