Denver rent, housing and growth

With 20,000 new units on the market, prices are down about 3.7 percent.

Apartment rents in the Denver metro continue to slide.

The average rent in the area fell 3.7 percent in the second quarter compared to the prior year, according to a new report from the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. Rents started falling at the end of last year, the association’s data show.

The city’s renters are finally catching a break after a building boom in recent years led to a glut of space that landlords are struggling to fill. The pileup — including about 20,000 new units in 2024 — is leading building owners to hold down rents to attract and keep tenants.

The average rent in Denver was $1,832 per month, a decline of $71 from the same time in 2024. Current rents are similar to where they were three years ago.

This year marks the first time in 15 years that Denver rents have dropped consistently. Earlier this year, Denverite reported on what the change meant for renters and landlords.

Rents were still up slightly from the first quarter due to seasonal factors. Rents typically get a boost in the spring because that’s when people are most likely to move. But the increase this year was minimal at just 0.7 percent.

“This increase is less than half of the typical increase during the second quarter over the past 20 years because vacancy remains elevated,” said Cary Bruteig, a researcher with research firm Apartment Insights, a coauthor of the report.

The vacancy rate in the metro Denver region was 6.4 percent, down from 7 percent in the first quarter. Studios have the highest vacancy rate, with 8.4 percent going unused.

On a more granular level, Boulder, Broomfield and Jefferson County were tied for the lowest vacancy rate at 5.2 percent. Arapahoe had the highest, with 7.1 percent of apartment units sitting empty.

In addition to lowering rents, landlords are offering generous concessions like several months of free rent and amenities to lure tenants. Those discounts don’t show up in rent calculations.

Meanwhile, the pipeline of new apartment buildings is drying up. The number of properties under construction is down by roughly one-third from the peak in 2023, the report found. That likely means fewer units coming available in the months ahead, potentially giving landlords room to start raising rents again.