Rent prices traditionally peak in the summer, but nationally, two-bedroom rent is down 2.9 percent from May to June, according to commercial real-estate site Zumper's latest rent report. One-bedroom rent grew by .5 percent.
Here in Denver, now the country's 16th most expensive rental market, the price of a two-bedroom rose by 5.10 percent. One-bedroom rent stayed flat.
Month-over-month rent changes don't offer the best sense of broader market trends. The better metric is year-over-year growth -- and that data shows rent rising faster in Denver than most of the country.
At $1,760, one-bedroom median rent in Denver is 22.2 percent more expensive than it was this time last year, and at $2,280, two-bedroom median rent is 19.4 percent higher.
Compare that to the fastest rising market, New York, where two-bedroom median rent rose by a whopping 44.7 percent, after a radical drop in prices during the pandemic.
Zumper's report is based on more than a million listings in 100 cities. Zumper's rent data includes new buildings and omits posts for homes that aren't available but still listed, which accounts for differences between this report's numbers and others from Apartment List and other groups.
Denver has fewer vacant rental units than a healthy market, according to the landlord group the Colorado Apartment Association, and that increases landlords' ability to raise prices. But vacancies have been increasing, too. If that trend continues, there may be some rent decreases in sight.
