John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... The Denver-area apartment vacancy rate in the first quarter fell to 5.5 percent, the lowest first-quarter vacancy rate recorded since at least 2001, shows a report released today.The report by the Apartment Association of Metro Denver and the Colorado Division of Housing shows that the apartment vacancy rates fell 15.5 percent year-over-year from last year’s first-quarter rate of 6.5 percent. The vacancy rate was unchanged from 2010’s fourth-quarter rate of 5.5 percent, although the vacancy rate generally falls from the fourth quarter to the first quarter as a result of seasonal factors.
“The metro Denver vacancy rate is near the lowest it’s been in the last decade, but it’s essentially been flat for the last three quarters,” said Gordon Von Stroh, a professor of business at the University of Denver, and the report’s author. “It’s likely that weakness in the job market is keeping the vacancy rate from moving lower, but there is nevertheless enough demand to allow for some increases in rents.”
Median rents rise
As vacancy rates moved down, the overall median rent hit a non-inflation adjusted record high. During the first quarter of 2011, the median rent rose to $859, increasing 2.6 percent from 2010’s first-quarter median rent of $836. In individual market areas, the median rent rose year-over-year in all county-level regions covered by the survey. The region with the largest year-over-year increase in the median rent was the Boulder/Broomfield area with an increase of 6.6 percent from $901 to $961. The smallest increase was found in Denver County where the median rent rose 2.1 percent from $801 during 2010’s first quarter to $818 during this year’s first quarter.
“The growth isn’t nearly what it was before the 2002 recession in Colorado, but we’re looking at some of the strongest rent growth we’ve seen in metro Denver in the past decade,” said Ryan McMaken, a spokesman for the Division of Housing. “Year-over-year growth in median rents outpaced inflation during much of 2010, and the first quarter’s median rent is the highest yet recorded.”
As market rents generally increased over the past year, rental losses due to concessions, discounts and delinquencies fell slightly. Rental losses fell to 9.5 percent during the first quarter of 2010, dropping from 2010’s first-quarter rate of 9.7 percent.
2011’s first quarter vacancy rates by county were :
- Adams, 5.6 percent.
- Arapahoe, 6.4 percent.
- Boulder/Broomfield, 4.9 percent.
- Denver, 4.8 percent.
- Douglas, 5.3 percent.
- Jefferson, 4.7 percent.
Median rents for all counties were:
- Adams, $871.
- Arapahoe, $825.
- Boulder/Broomfield, $961.
- Denver, $818.
- Douglas, $1061.
- Jefferson, $828.
The Colorado Vacancy and Rent Survey reports averages and, as a result, there are often differences in rental and vacancy rates by size, location, age of building, and apartment type. The full report is available through the Apartment Association of Metro Denver at www.aamdhq.org. Limited information is available online at the Division of Housing web site: http://dola.colorado.gov/cdh/
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
[...] Stroh said that the “key thing” about today’s report, which earlier was reported by InsideRealEstateNews, is that the vacancy rate typically rises in the first quarter from the fourth quarter, for [...]
This is an interesting article about vacancies in Denver apartments. My guess is that with the housing market slump more and more people will be renting apartments in the near future. I bookmarked this article on several websites because it is so informative. I look forward to reading more of your articles.