At the risk of sounding like a broken record the market is still very challenging. As you can see from the chart there is a higher than normal number of rental properties still on the market.
However, there are signs of improvement. Several of the markets around the area are showing decreases in the vacancy rates according to Dr. Gordon Von Stroh at the University of Denver. He tracks vacancy rates around the area. He says the one of the biggest impacts was to student rentals in Boulder this year. Some of his early numbers were showing student rental vacancy rates were up from about 6% to 10% this season. Initial responses from the students show they were looking at the new CU apartments and less expensive rents a little further from campus. The final numbers are not in but it will be interesting to see how these apartments will affect the overall market. CU is continuing construction and will eventually bring another 1,000 beds to the market. They are also talking about adding married student and faculty houseing in the same area.
We are still getting calls from people looking for rentals. However, they still have a large number of available properties from which to choose. They are now looking at the actual rents rather than other incentives. This is continuing to apply downward pressure on the overall rents in the area.
If the other economic indicators continue to rise we expect to see the rental market stabilize or even improve.
