Metro Denver continues to see rents fall year-over-year

Average rents in Metro Denver have dropped 3.7% year over year according to the latest Vacancy & Rent Report released Thursday by the Apartment Association of Metro Denver (AAMD). Rental rates in the region are down $71 since the second quarter of 2024 and $46 lower than the same period in 2023.

“For three consecutive quarters now, we have seen rents lower than they were at the same time the year before,” said Mark Williams, AAMD executive vice president. “We are starting to see a trend here. Average rent continues to stay relatively flat the past three years.”

This decline in average rent over the past year comes as renters face increasing costs nationally. In June 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measured a 3.8% increase in the average rent of primary residence – a measure of how much renters are paying across the country.

While the AAMD report showed a seasonal $13 increase over the first quarter to $1,832, the slight bump was well below the traditional seasonal increases during peak leasing season.

“We typically see the biggest jump in average rent coming out of winter and a 0.7% increase is low from a historic perspective,” Williams said. 

“This increase is less than half of the typical increase during the 2nd quarter over the past 20 years because vacancy remains elevated,” said Cary Bruteig, the researcher with Apartment Insights who authors the report.

The report also showed a slight decrease in rental discounts and concessions, which are not included in average rent.  These rental incentives, averaging about 4.9% of gross rent, result from high vacancy and indicate a softer market. 

Despite the vacancy rate standing at 6.4% in the Denver Metro area, the measure of unoccupied rental units fell by 0.6% from the first quarter, the largest drop in vacancy rate since the same period in 2021. 

“The number of apartments under construction has decreased by approximately a third from its peak in mid-2023,” Bruteig said. “This should lead to fewer new apartments completed in the quarters ahead.”

As projects that began prior to the slate of new regulations passed by the state and city of Denver come to a close, there is a question as to whether the supply can keep up with demand.

“What is troubling for the long term health of housing in Colorado, is the unprecedented amount of regulations placed on housing providers in the past few years,” Williams said. “The volume of new laws is compounded by their complexity – for both housing providers and renters alike. The overwhelming and complex regulations are chasing away investment into Colorado – which will have serious and unfavorable impacts in the years to come. Providing a home to a renter shouldn’t be so complicated.” 

Older apartments saw increased vacancy which resulted in lower average rent. Units built in the 1970s had vacancy increase to 8.6% - more than double the 2Q 2022 rate of 3.9% – and an average rent of $1,477, a decrease of $20 from the previous quarter.

Vacancy decreased across all six Denver Metro regions with both  Boulder/Broomfield and Jefferson counties claiming the lowest rate at 5.2%. Arapahoe County had the highest vacancy rate at 7.1%. Comparing the size of property to vacancy, the smallest properties – those with less than 100 units – had the largest and only increase in vacancy during the quarter, coming in at 6.8%. Vacancy fell the most in the 200-to-349-unit group, dropping to just 6.0%.
 

These numbers were compiled by Apartment Insights, which collected data from 248,812 apartment homes.