As more new apartments have hit the market, rents have fallen across the metro Denver area.

The average rent fell nearly 5% in the last year to about $1,750, according to a fourth-quarter report from the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. It’s the lowest rent recorded since 2022.

Rent prices around the region began to decline halfway through 2024, as inventory expanded and vacancy rates went up. Last year, the Denver metro area saw more than 15,000 new units hit the market and about 72% of them filled up — leaving more than a third empty.

Over the last three years, Denver gained more than 45,000 new apartments.

The region’s vacancy rate grew from 6.9% to 7.6% between the last quarter of 2024 and 2025. The rise in empty apartments to the highest point in 16 years has significantly helped bring down rents, the report said.

Denver and Arapahoe County had the highest vacancy rate at 8.2%. Boulder and Broomfield County had the lowest vacancy at 6.5%.

“What all of this data means is there is an amazing opportunity for new renters to get into the market right now,” said Mark Williams, executive vice president of AAMD, in a news release. “These large increases in new apartments are naturally creating affordability across income levels and giving new renters more choice and negotiating power.”

Landlords have also offered more concessions, an amount “not seen in decades,” according to the association.

Concessions on rent, that are not included in the average rent data, grew to about $169 in the fourth quarter, more than $60 higher than in the third quarter. In short: renters are getting about four to five weeks of free rent.

It’s a sign Denver’s apartment supply has caught up to demand, said Scott Rathbun of Apartment Insights, author of the report.
“These concessions translate into real, immediate savings for new renters,” said Rathbun.

Even though the market is the most renter-friendly it has been in years, the association said it doesn’t mean it’s oversupplied. Rather, it finally caught up to the region’s population and job growth.

But the good conditions could be temporary, the association’s leaders said. While the supply has caught up, it is at risk of falling behind again.

Many of the new apartments coming into the market were planned several years ago, the report said, and the construction pipeline has slowed since its peak in 2023. Recent regulations on both state and local levels could reverse the trends, Williams said.

“Today’s affordability is largely the result of projects approved years ago, before the current regulatory environment took hold,” said Drew Hamrick, the association’s vice president of government affairs.