As rent growth in the Piedmont Triad showed no signs of breaking a prolonged upward climb in 2020, buying a home remains the more affordable option in the area’s housing market.

While rent prices in big cities like San Francisco and Chicago have plummeted over 2020, residents of the Triad cities have seen the average rent price buck the national trend and continue to rise last year. As of October 2020, the annual effective asking rent growth in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem area was 4.3%, quite a difference from the rent cuts of 1.3% recorded in the nation overall, according to the software company RealPage.

Though the ongoing pandemic has slowed the market’s performance in April, the growth rate never fell below 2%. According to Apartment List, Greensboro saw rents grow a staggering 7.7% from March to December 2020, while in Winston-Salem rents grew up to 3.4%.



The rise in prices comes down, at least partially, to supply and demand. As the pandemic has accelerated a move to remote work, more renters are making housing choices independent of where their jobs are located – but still within long commuting distance. Greensboro and Winston-Salem are within a 90-minute commute of Charlotte.

With interest rates at a low and the rent prices on the increase, there is no doubt that home ownership is still a better deal than renting in the Triad. In December, Realtor.com ranked the Winston-Salem MSA as the nation’s eighth most attractive market for 2020 when projecting home-sale and home-price performance.

Are you ready to make the jump to homeownership this year? The Sharpe Mortgage Team would love to help you with your home financing. Let’s set up a phone call to discuss your financial goals and determine what loan program might be right for you. Call us today!