As I’ve often said, Denver trends are about 6 months ahead of Steamboat’s. When I found information on the rental market in Denver changing, I had to follow up.
Today I ran into an article from the Denver Post about Denver rents going down. This is the second article they published like this in a month. The first one was citing the Pandemic as the leading cause. The second article spoke more about overall trends and that Denver is seeing reductions greater than comparable cities. Year over year, rents are down 5.2% in September.
Rents went down in the metro area and in the burbs.
As far as I can tell, rents in Steamboat are holding. There were some landlords in the early stages of the Pandemic that jumped at lowering there rents, and changing into long term rentals, that got renters quickly. After a few months, rents were back at pre-Pandemic levels and folks were filling them up.
Today, at the beginning of October, it is difficult to find anything to rent, long or short term. Values are also holding. As a big change I rarely see in Steamboat, there were offers for rent to own homes.
When I hear Denver rental rates are going down, I have to ask, what does this mean for Steamboat?
My thoughts and observations are:
– current indications point to rents maintaining values through Winter
– current interest rates make it easier to buy a home rather than pay rent, which is commonly higher than the mortgage
– purchasing/moving due to the Pandemic seems to have subsided for the meantime
– a number of apartments are coming on the market in 2021, just less than 200. These are all meant for the workforce and lower income folks. And this item, I expect, will have a large affect on the value of rents.
– many purchasers over the Summer do not intend on renting their new homes
– commercial property is becoming more available as months go by, and landlords are consistently getting low-ball offers for their spaces
It is hard to say what will happen in Spring. Normally I would say that with the number of good jobs available here that housing will continue to go up in cost/value. And Denver has many new and well-paying jobs. Seeing Denver and other areas with rents decreasing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this trend move to rural areas as well.