This newsletter is a compilation of news and information regarding the rental markets in Boulder and Broomfield counties and the economic status of and outlook for the area. The sources for the data include local and regional news media, association publications and seminars, and information gathered from contacts in the property management and real estate fields. We make every effort to cite all of our sources. Should we miss one please let us know so that we can correct the omission.

Company update

Since last month we reduced our vacancy rate to just 3%. Those properties we have managed for over 4 months have a 0% vacancy rate. The remaining properties are new to the market and we hope to rent them soon!

It you don't have it already our new address is.....

2400 Central Ave., Ste. P-1
Boulder, CO 80301
303. 998.0754 Boulder
303.666.1111 Louisville
303.544.1411 fax

We also welcome Frank Phillips to the office. He will be helping out with the accounting and other projects.

National: During September, stock prices reached their highest levels in nearly two years, only to close for the month at a loss. The market ended the quarter with an advance, the second in a row for all of the indexes. (Denver Post, Oct. 1, 2003)

The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has upwardly revised its economic forecast for the second half of the year, predicting GDP growth in the second half at an annual rate of 4.5%. (Mortgage Bankers Association Economic Commentary).

Regional: Regional economists are predicting that Colorado will recover from its recession next year, along with the rest of the U.S. (Denver Post, Sep. 4, 2003) In the September 10, 2003 Denver Post there were predictions of job growth next year of 1.5 to 2%. In today's Post (October 2, 2003) they predict a 1.6 to 1.7% increase in jobs.

Executive attendees at the Colorado Technology Summit on Sep. 13 said that while the worst is over for the regional technology sector, there will be more consolidations, mergers and partnerships ahead. These actions are inevitably followed by layoffs. (Denver Post, Sep. 14, 2003). As of today (Denver Post, October 2, 2003) the rate of layoffs has slowed and some local companies are indicating they will be hiring soon. We will have to wait to see which trend will affect us the most.

A new report shows that many low-income renters still cannot afford housing here. A Colorado household must earn $16.29 an hour (three times the federal minimum wage) to afford a fair-market two-bedroom rental unit. Colorado ranks tenth on the list of least affordable states. (Denver Post, Sep. 9, 2003)

The housing market has some all-time highs, with housing starts, sales and prices setting records. But homeowners have taken out larger loans against the appreciating value of their homes, increasing their debt burden even as they refinance at lower interest rates. (Rocky Mountain News, Sep. 13, 2003)

Denver home prices continue to climb, but concessions made by the sellers may be inflating the actual prices. Those include the seller paying the closing costs and participating in down payment assistance programs. Eleven percent more homes were for sale in September of 2003 as compared to last year. Prices for both average single-family homes and condos were up 4.9 percent from a year ago. (Denver Post, Sep. 24, 2003).

In today's Denver Post they report that there were 2,256 foreclosures in the Metro area in the 3rd quarter. This is a 46% increase over this time last year. This does not include the September data from Jefferson county as that data is still being compiled. The number of bankruptcies is also up but the rate is slowing.

The rental market is still very challenging. There are no accurate statistics on the rentals of single family homes in the area. We track the market by the number of rentals advertised. The chart above shows the steep change in the number of rentals advertised this year compared to last year. There are still people looking to rent but it is a 'renter's market.' Tenants are able to select a particular area in which to live and still find multiple rentals available in that area. Those properties close to CU and to downtown are holding rents higher than outlying areas but rents overall are down significantly.

Many of the landlords and property managers are still unsure when this will turn around. CU is still working to finish their new apartments just off 30th & Baseline at the Williams Village complex. They are still planning for a total of about 1,900 beds when they complete construction. We will continue to monitor the market and pass along the trends we see.

License Amnesty: The City of Boulder has declared an amnesty for all unlicensed rental properties for the rest of 2003. Boulder requires that all rental properties within the city limits have a rental license. The penalty for failing to license a property is $2,000 per violation and up to 90 days in jail. To take advantage of the amnesty program, a property owner should apply to the city and license their rental property. The licensing program requires a safety inspection by a qualified inspector. All our properties within the City of Boulder have current licenses. If you do not have a copy of the license for your property please let us know. We will forward a copy to you.

What is a competitive rent for your property? There is no one answer for everyone. Each property is unique and must take into account the geography, popularity, amenities, etc. to determine how their property should be priced in this market. Please contact us if you have specific questions or want more information. If you have a specific question about the rental market, a specific property, or property management in general please let us know. We will get that information to you and may include it in future newsletters.

We are actively working to grow the business and to add new properties to our management inventory. If you know someone that would be interested in our services please send them our way. We pay referral fees to anyone referring us business!

That wraps things up for this month. Again, if you do not want to receive these messages please call or email us and we will take you off this mailing list.