CSBJ: Colorado Springs Apartment Vacancies Down, Sales Increase

Published by The Colorado Springs Business Journal | October 9 2012 | Written by Amanda Miller

Eight apartment properties sold in Colorado Springs during the third quarter of this year.

Those are big sales figures, said Doug Carter, an apartment broker with Sperry Van Ness and publisher of the quarterly Apartment Insights market analysis.

There’s good reason for a surge in apartment property sales, Carter said. The vacancy rate dropped to 5.8 percent in the third quarter. That’s the lowest vacancy rate this year, according to the report. But it’s still higher than last year’s record low of 5.2 percent in the second quarter.

“The low vacancy rates mean rents are going to continue to rise,” Carter said.

The average gross rent increased $10 to $757, which is 3 percent higher than it was in 2011, according to the Apartment Insights report.

Increasing rent is good news for apartment property owners and investors who saw vacancy rates near or above 10 percent for most of the last decade.

“It will allow upgrades and improvements to properties,” Carter said.

Many property owners deferred maintenance through hard times and properties didn’t sell with nearly the frequency they’re now changing hands.

This change in the market means older apartments will likely be spruced up and that there will be a market for some of the new properties currently being built.

Read more on the CSBJ website: http://csbj.com/2012/10/09/apartment-vacancies-down-sales-increase/

Examiner.com: Colorado Springs Apartment Vacancy Rate Falls to 6 Percent, Rents Rise

The average rent in the Colorado Springs metro area rose year over year for the tenth quarter in a row, climbing 2.3 percent during the second quarter to $776. According to a report released today by the Colorado Division of Housing and the Apartment Association of Southern Colorado, the average rent for the region was up from $759 reported during the second quarter of last year, and was also up from 2012’s first-quarter average rent of $754.

The average rent increased year over year in all sub-markets measured during the second quarter except the Southeast region where the average rent fell 5.1 percent to $638. The average rent increased the most in the Security/Widefield/Fountain region where it was up 7.9 percent, year over year, to $622.

“The rent growth in the metro area continues, but the rate of increase has fallen off recently,” said Ron Throupe, a professor of real estate at the University of Denver’s Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, and the report’s author. “The weak employment situation in the region is not ideal for pushing rents, so we’re seeing some moderation there.”

Read more: http://ow.ly/cwIJ5