Rent Has Increased by 82% this Decade

Aldo Svaldi wrote a great story in The Denver Post about the rental increases we have seen in metro Denver since 2010 using data from RealPage.

• Our median apartment rents have risen by 82% this decade from 2010 to the end of 2018. Median rents increased from $805 a month to $1462.
• This was the 4^th fastest increase in the country after 3 Bay Area markets.
• Metro Denver now ranks as the 17^th most expensive out of the 50 largest apartment markets in the country.
• But, the biggest rent increases in the metro area haven’t happened near downtown, RINO, or other trendy areas. Instead, they have happened in Thornton, Aurora, and Wheat Ridge where very little new construction has happened.
• This reveals a “Strong relationship between rent growth and construction activity,” according to Greg Willett, chief economist at RealPage.
• Thankfully in this story Aldo wrote that Ted Nicolais, an instructor at Harvard Extension School who teaches RE, reminded us to keep a long-term perspective as rents were basically flat from 2000 to 2010. Incredibly true! 

Now we need developers and builders build more new apartments in the suburbs. But, will the cities and counties allow for this to happen? If not, rents will continue to rise.