Metro Denver apartment rents rose 2.2 percent in August from the same month a year ago, rising at the slowest rate since February 2010, according to a report Thursday from Axiometrics.
Axiometrics pegs the average metro Denver rent for all one- and two-bedroom apartments at $1,408 a month, down from $1,413 in July and up from $1,378 in August 2015. Occupancy stood at 95 percent, the same level as in July and down from 95.9 percent a year ago.
Nationally, apartment rents rose 2.9 percent to $1,293 in August from the same month a year earlier and the occupancy rate was 95.2 percent.
Stephanie McCleskey, vice president of research for Axiometrics, attributed the slower gains in rents to weaker job growth in late 2015 and the first half of 2016, and a large number of new units hitting the market.
Axiometrics said almost 15,000 new units have hit the metro Denver market since the start of 2015 and another 10,750 are set to land between now and the end of 2017. Many of those new units come with higher rents, like .
The metro submarkets with the largest annual rent gains in August were north Lakewood, up 6.3 percent, central southeast Aurora up 4.8 percent, central southwest Aurora at 4.7 percent and unincorporated Jefferson County at 4.2 percent.
