Residential rental market

According to local sources (Denver Post 12/4/2003) there is some improvment in the local rental markets. Statewide the vacancy rate dropped from 11.6% to 11.1% in the third quarter. Although an improvement this is still higher than the 9.1% vacancy rate in 3Qtr 2002. This compares to historical vacancy rates (non-student) at around 1-2% in the Boulder area. Overall there are positive signs for the area. For example, the vacancy rate in Loveland dropped to 9.9% from 29% a year ago.

Our statistics

• Student rentals......... 0% (The new apartment complex at CU reported a 2% vacancy rate)
• Non-student homes....... 3.5% (properties managed longer than 6 months
• Non-student homes....... 7.0% (properties managed less than 6 months)

There are still the same factors impacting the rental market:

• Fewer jobs in the area (leading to fewer prospective tenants coming to the area)
• More single family homes on the market (generally from those people that do not wish to sell or cannot sell for some reason)
• More apartments on the market (some developers are still building!)
• Interest rates still down (they can buy instead of rent)

We are still seeing people looking for places to rent but it is still very competitive. Price is the most important factor in our informal surveys. Second to price is location. Prospective tenants can virtually pick the area in which they want to live and have several selections.