Nearly half of Denver metro renters searching for apartments are looking in other cities, and 40% of the people searching for apartments in Denver are from out of the area, according to online apartment market Apartment List's latest Renter Migration Report. The report analyzes millions of renter searches on its site.
Of the 48% of Denverites looking elsewhere, they are considering moving within the state to Colorado Springs and Boulder and outside the region to cheaper places like Kansas City.
Meanwhile, most of the people looking at Denver properties are coming from the New York, Dallas and Boulder metros, according to the data.
What about nationally?
The current nationwide trend is for people looking for apartments in more affordable cities. That's not a big surprise considering how rents have risen in price during the pandemic and people are looking for deals.
South Carolina, Delaware and North Carolina are seeing the highest rates of inflow. Meanwhile, the state with the highest rate of outward-bound migration is New York followed by California. Both states are sending renters in droves to Texas and Florida.
The downside, for people already living in popular yet more affordable places, is that newcomers from pricier markets are likely to drive up the price of rent, a phenomenon that has hit Denver over the past decade.
In cities like Denver, where rents have risen fast in recent years as demand for homes has grown, rent prices have largely stabilized since the pandemic. The arrival of newcomers has slowed in the city. As people consider moving elsewhere and the city's vacancy rate continues to rise, landlords could have a tougher time raising rents.
Colorado Springs outpaced pricier Denver for out-of-market searches and came in sixth place nationwide, according to the report.
Recent years have seen an increase in migration between states, driven in part by people's ability to work from home. Now, though, many workers are returning to the office, and people are tending to stay put, according to the report.
"As a result, migration trends appear to be settling down," the report states. "While the dominant migration patterns of recent years are still prevailing, their magnitude is shrinking."
On the ground, real estate industry leaders are optimistic about potential growth in the rental market. But the industry, long building luxury units for incoming coastal techies, is going to need to begin making more workforce housing available.
"I think we'll still see a lot in-migration of workers," explained Scott Rathbun, the president of Denver's Apartment Appraisers & Consultants Inc. "Yes, we're gonna have in-migration of people from out of the country as well as maybe fewer tech workers coming in."
