No Relief for Denver’s Booming Rental Market

If Denver’s crazy housing market has you looking to rent, you might want to reconsider. The average rent across the metro area has now jumped to $1,371, a new all-time high. The University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business and Colorado Economic and Management Associates conducted the latest apartment market survey.

“We have not seen a decrease in rental costs, although the market has seen a recent increase in 4,000 available units,” says Ron Throupe, associate professor of real estate and construction management at Daniels. Throupe led the survey, which found that rents have increased by $55 per unit from the first quarter of 2016 to the second quarter. The average cost of rent during the first quarter of this year was at a then all-time high of $1,315.

“The upward cycle in rent growth resulting from the demand for units continues to impress as Denver becomes a destination for business and a top-rated place to live,” Throupe says.

Denver’s rental rates appear to fall right in line with the national average. According to Apartment List, the national average one-month rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the U.S. is $1,300. Apartment List also ranks Denver 16th in the country for cities with the highest rent.

One major factor not helping Denver renters is a big drop in vacancy. Throupe found that even though inventory is increasing, vacancy in the metro area has dropped to 5.4 percent. In the first quarter of 2016, the vacancy rate was 6.1 percent.