Apartments filling up

Fewer Colorado Springs-area apartments were vacant in the third quarter, according to figures from a California research firm that match the findings of local apartment industry experts. RealFacts, based north of San Francisco and which tracks multi-family markets in several western cities, says the Springs' third quarter apartment vacancy rate fell to 8.9 percent from 10.3 percent during the same period in 2005. Third quarter rents averaged $708, down $2 from the same time in 2005, according to RealFacts.

Figures compiled by the Apartment Association of Colorado Springs and the Colorado Division of Housing, along with reports from local real estate broker Doug Carter, have shown the same general trend of falling vacancy rates. Their reports also have suggested that rents are on the way up, reflecting an increase in demand. Local industry experts have said a solid local economy, the presence of thousands of military personnel at area installations and the lack of apartment construction have combined to drive down multi-family vacancy rates, which climbed into double digits after the recession of early 2001 and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.