CREJ - Multifamily Properties Quarterly - October 2015
It should come as no surprise to those who follow local real estate news: Metro Denver’s apartment owners and developers are enjoying a healthy run of strong performance. This trend continued in the third quarter, with quarterly effective rent growth of 3.3 percent and an average stabilized occupancy just below 96 percent. Given the recent coverage of this trend, it is a good time to examine the factors driving demand for apartments. The robust rent growth recently experienced in metro Denver is not a unique phenomenon. Many markets across the country are experiencing similar escalations. By looking at trends of primary apartment demand drivers – falling homeownership rates, employment growth and a rapidly increasing population – the tremendous demand for apartment units in many major markets can be quantified.