North Carolina has plenty of buttresses to support a strong multifamily market, it seems. In addition to Charlotte, the Tar Heel State offers Raleigh and Durham, about 25 miles apart, as markets that are best able to absorb the deliveries of newly constructed units. In its first quarter roundup, JLL found that the cities of Raleigh and Durham were among the cities that absorbed at least 2.0 percent of new construction from 2016. If that sounds like a market able to withstand cyclical challenges, consider that the area is home to three major U.S. universities: Duke University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Low cost of living contributes to steady population growth, which expanded by 6.4 percent due to net migration from 2011 to 2015, according to the U.S. News & World Report.