The median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Denver was $1,345 in June, down for the third straight month amid what the online real estate company Apartment List said was a national decline in rents because of COVID-19.
At $1,345, the Denver median was down 0.4 percent over May and 1.2 percent over June of 2019. Apartment List, which bases its estimates on data from both the Census and its own listings, said its national rent index fell by 0.1 percent from May to June, with a cumulative decline of 0.3 percent since March.
"While this dip may seem modest, it is occurring at a time of year when rent growth is normally at its fastest," the Apartment List report said, noting that since the company began tracking rents in 2014, rent increases between March and June ranged from 1 percent to 1.7 percent.
Apartment List said shelter-in-place orders, eviction moratoriums and uncertainty about the economic future have slowed moving, and that people who are moving are doing so in search of more affordable housing.
"Property owners are beginning to respond to these new realities by offering lower prices in order to fill vacancies," Apartment List concluded.
Zumper, another online real estate company, looks at its own listings in 100 cities across the country. It put the median rent for a two-bedroom Denver apartment at $1,880 in June, up 1.1 percent over May and down 5.1 percent over the year.
Zumper said the persistent pandemic has shifted rental demand away from more expensive areas.
