In September, every Colorado market in the Zumper National Rent Index report posted an annual rent decline greater than 5%: Denver (-7.3%), Aurora (-7.7%), and Colorado Springs (-5.4%). As of January, occupancy sat below the national rate, with Denver at 92.9% and Colorado Springs at 93.2%. This suggests the market is still working through new supply against comparatively soft demand.
Landlords are responding as Zumper’s own listing data shows about 25% of Denver apartment buildings offered concessions in August, up from 18% during the same period in 2024.
“Colorado built through the same boom that hit Austin and Phoenix, just a little quieter,” says Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy. “Denver and Colorado Springs still have real supply to work through, and until that clears, we’d expect property owners there to keep leaning on concessions to fill units rather than push rent.”
That momentum lines up with a national rental market that’s holding fairly steady while new supply pulls back. The U.S. rental vacancy rate was 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, statistically unchanged from a year earlier and essentially flat from the first quarter’s reading, according to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey.
Read the full report here.
