Average rents in the Denver metro area were at $1,503 in the last quarter of 2019, up $47 -- 3.2 percent -- over this time last year and down slightly from the previous quarter, according to the latest Denver Metro Area Apartment Vacancy and Rent report.
Mark Williams, executive vice president of the Apartment Association of Metro Denver, the landlords' group that coordinates and publishes the rent report, said the market was continuing to flatten. The 3.2 percent growth over the last year was the slowest since 2011.
"The increased inventory is working to bring down rental prices, but there is concern that a slowdown in construction could edge prices up again," Williams said in a statement.
Teo Nicolais, who studies real estate and is a member of the apartment association, added in the statement that "new supply isn't quite keeping up with new demand. In 2019, the number of apartment renter households increased by 10,830 but only 9,952 new apartment units were built."
About 12,300 apartments were added in 2018 when demand also outweighed supply. In 2018, the number of apartment-renting households increased by 13,709.
The average vacancy rate dropped from 6.4 to 5.8 over 2018, and from 5.8 percent to 5.4 percent over the past year.
The Denver Metro Area Apartment Vacancy and Rent Report is conducted by the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business and Colorado Economic and Management Associates and is sponsored by the Colorado Division of Housing and Newmark Knight Frank Multifamily.
