The local rental market continues to throw us curves. The early peak season showed a very positive trend for owners and landlords. Rents were up slightly and demand was higher than in recent years. However, by mid-July this trend was showing signs of slowing. Many property managers were seeing rents come back down as the number of showings to get leases were increasing again.
Now that we are past the peak, July to Labor Day, season we are still seeing strange trends. Normally, at this time of year the vacancy rate is dropping. However, as you can see from the chart, the number of advertised rentals is going up. One reason for this may be the soft student rental market. These rentals do not generally appear in the local newspaper. They are usually found in the Colorado Daily which targets the student market. Since the student rental market is very soft these vacancies may account for the sharp increase in the number of residential rentals in the Daily Camera.
The market is still very much a renter's market. Most rents are still flat in most areas and attracting tenants is still a challenge. We will have to see how the overall market fairs for 2005.
