The median rent for an apartment in the Denver area during the third quarter barely budged from last year, according to the latest study released by the Apartment Association of Metro Denver.
The median rent was $1,464, up less than half a percent from the third quarter of 2019, according to the study conducted for the landlords' group by the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business and Colorado Economic Management Associates. The median also was up less than a percent from the second quarter.
The association's second quarter report had shown a drop in rents for the first time in a decade, down 1.4 percent from the first quarter to a median of $1,454. The second quarter median also dropped slightly over the year from $1,462 in the second quarter of 2019.
Amid concerns that the recession caused by the pandemic is making it difficult for tenants to keep up with the rent, the survey also collected data on late payments. Most landlords responded that more than 95 percent of renters paid their rent, the association said.
The vacancy rate dropped slightly, from 5.1 percent in the second quarter to 4.9 percent in the third.
This week, Gov. Jared Polis added statewide protections to a federal eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September. Under Polis's order, landlords cannot evict tenants whose leases have expired, assuming they face hardship. Polis also has prohibited landlords from starting court proceedings in cases of financial hardship and bans landlords from carrying out evictions that had been granted by a judge if the tenant demonstrates financial hardship.
Polis had earlier suspended late rent fees.
Last month the state housing division granted $1 million in COVID relief funds for the expansion of a Colorado housing hotline. Staff determine callers needs and connect them to organizations across the state that can provide rental and mortgage assistance and other support.
