(Source: Greeley Tribune, Colorado)
By Greeley Tribune, Colo.
Aug. 20--WELD COUNTY -- Rents in Weld County are shrinking even as those in major areas in the rest of the state are rising, according to a report issued Thursday by the state Division of Housing.
The report said apartment vacancies fell across Colorado as rents rose during the second quarter, signaling a surprising amount of growth in demand for housing despite slow wage and job growth, according to a news release. The Department of Local Affairs' Division of Housing analyzes rents and vacancies every quarter.
Rents in the Greeley metropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Weld County, fell to $618.29, from $629.01 at the same time last year, the report stated, an almost
2 percent drop and a three-year low. Average rents dropped almost 6.5 percent from the first quarter of the year, the report noted.
Bruce Disselkoen of the Weld County Apartment Association said he has not seen average rents decrease for about six years, but he's not ready to count these latest numbers as a trend.
"The true result will be in the third and fourth quarters, if we still have the downward trend," Disselkoen said. "The good news is our vacancy rate did go down, but maybe that softened the market rents-wise."
The Loveland/Fort Collins area registered the highest increase in rents in the state, rising to $885.29 from $825.03, a 7.3 percent increase from the same period last year, the report said.
Average rents in metropolitan areas measured were: Colorado Springs, $719.22; Grand Junction, $634.48; and Pueblo, $541.78. Metropolitan Denver's average rent, measured in a separate survey, was $899.97 in the second quarter, the release state.
Vacancies fell in seven of the eight metropolitan areas of the state measured by the survey, including Fort Collins/Loveland, Greeley, and Colorado Springs. Only Grand Junction and Pueblo reported a rise in the vacancy rate.
Greeley's metropolitan statistical area showed a 6.3 percent vacancy rate, down from 9.1 percent at the same time last year. Fort Collins/Loveland had a 6.8 percent vacancy rate, down from 9.9 percent in the second quarter of 2009.
The largest drop in the vacancy rate was found in Colorado Springs where, year-over-year, the rate fell to 5.8 percent from 9.8 percent.
In Grand Junction, vacancies rose year-over-year to 8.9 percent from
4.5 percent, and in Pueblo, they rose to 10.4 percent from 8.5 percent during the same period. The metro Denver vacancy rate, measured earlier this month in a separate survey, also fell year-over-year from 9.0 percent to 6.1 percent.
Vacancy rates in other areas were: Colorado Springs, 5.8 percent and Grand Junction, 8.9 percent.
Copyright 2010 The Greeley Publishing Co.. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Greeley Publishing Co. August, 20 2010 12:11 am
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