A robust ski industry has helped push apartment-vacancy rates to their lowest levels in three years.
The vacancy rate in Summit County dropped to 1.6 percent for the first quarter this year, compared with 8.4 percent at the end of 2005, according to a statewide survey of the rental market sponsored by the Colorado Division of Housing. In the first quarter of 2003, the vacancy rate in Summit County was 0.3 percent.
Much of the improvement in the rental market is a result of the number of new jobs that have been added, said Kathi Wil liams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing.
“The ski industry is feeling much more confident about their market,” Williams said.
While Summit County and other towns along the Interstate 70 corridor have drops in vacancy, Steamboat Springs – which typically lags other resorts – showed an increase to 22.1 percent, from 10.6 percent.
Lake County has seen a big drop in its vacancy rate since mining giant Phelps Dodge Corp. announced its plans to reopen Colorado’s historic Climax molybdenum mine by 2009. The rate plummeted from 39.3 percent at the end of 2005 to 12.4 percent for the first quarter.
Increased economic activity because of the energy boom and its growing reputation as a retirement area have pushed Grand Junction’s vacancy rate to 3 percent, its lowest in 10 years, said Gordon Von Stroh, professor of management at the University of Denver Daniels College of Business.
But the vacancy rate along the Front Range is higher because of the boom in single-family home development. As interest rates climb, putting homeownership out of the reach of some, apartment vacancy rates will drop, he said.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
