Rents in Beaufort County shot up 31% during COVID pandemic, news report says
The cost of renting a home or an apartment in Beaufort County increased by 31% during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis of rent prices across the country by the the Washington Post.
Across the country, rents are rising at the fastest pace in decades as the supply of housing struggles to meet the sky-high demand, reported the newspaper, which cited research from the real estate research firm CoStar Group.
The average monthly rent in Beaufort County is $1,692, according to the research. That swelled from around $1,290 right before the pandemic in 2019.
The rise in Beaufort County’s rents are some of the highest in the country, the real estate data shows.
The Post put Beaufort County at No. 16 for counties with the fastest rent growth between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2022. That’s one spot above Gwinnett County in Georgia, which is a suburban county next to Atlanta.
The reasons for this rise are multi-faceted and not unique to any one area.
It stems from a combination of pandemic-related shortages in materials and construction slowing growth, a squeeze on a tight housing market particularly from young Americans and potential homeowners being pushed to seek rentals because of rising mortgage rates, according to the news report.
The draw of Hilton Head Island and coastal Beaufort County could also have played a part
Many residents in the northeast reported leaving for warmer and less expensive areas during the COVID-19 lockdowns as it became more common to work from home.
Before the pandemic, however, the most pronounced growth in Beaufort County was happening in Bluffton.
The town grew by 95% between 2010 and 2020, according to recent census numbers.
The highest burden for the increased rents typically falls on Black and Hispanic families and younger households, the news report said. Census Bureau numbers cited indicate that Black and Hispanic families are more likely to rent apartments and homes than their white peers.
