From Staff Reports  

CHARLOTTE — Asheville’s sky-high apartment rental rates were headlined in a Feb. 6 story in the Charlotte Observer, which began by stating:

 â€œThink about where rent will be the highest for an apartment in North Carolina, and places like Charlotte, the Triangle or the beach may come to mind.

“But according to a new report from Apartment List, the most-expensive place for a two bedroom apartment is Asheville.

“A two-bedroom apartment in the scenic mountain arts and tourist haven rents for a median $1,771, according to the site. By comparison, the site says renters pay a median rent of $1,421 for a two-bedroom apartment in Charlotte. The national average is $1,285.”

The Observer story then noted that  “Asheville (TV) station WLOS (News 13) on Friday(Feb. 4)  first reported the city’s ranking.

Meanwhile, News 13 quoted Anna Zuevskaya, executive director of the affordable-housing group Asheville-Buncombe Community Land Trust, as telling the station, “Honestly, I was surprised to see ... there was only a 25 percent increase in rent.” 

Zuevskaya’s organization is asking the city to help it add 10 affordable housing units with America Rescue Plan money, according to News 13.

Many more groups are needed to help solve the city’s housing crisis, she told News 13, adding that the need for more affordable units has increased since the pandemic.

In the past year, “we’ve seen an uptick in those inquiries about housing and about people getting displaced,” News 13 quoted Zuevskaya as saying..

In its story, the Observer added, “Apartment rental prices soared statewide, by an average 19.8 percent, Apartment List found. Nationwide, there was a 17.8 percent increase.

“Year-to-year apartment rental prices in North Carolina grew the fastest in Asheville, by 25.2 percent, according to the report. In Charlotte, rent has gone up about 20 percent over the last year.

“Cary, Greensboro and Durham apartment rental prices rose a respective 23.8 percent, 23.2 percent and 20.9 percent, according to the report.”

The Observer story goes on to state that “affordable housing” is “nearly impossible” to find in the Charlotte area, noting that “Rent.com recently listed the average two-bedroom rent in Charlotte as $1,680 — less than Raleigh’s — and the city of Asheville didn’t even make the list, likely due to the Asheville’s relatively smaller population.”