Apartment renters prefer newer and larger buildings

Renters are more likely to flock to newer and larger apartment complexes, according to a new vacancy and rent survey by the Apartment Association of Southern Colorado. In its first-quarter survey of the Colorado Springs market, the Apartment Association found that apartments constructed from 1990 to 1999 had a vacancy rate of 5.3 percent and those built from 2000 to 2004 had a vacancy rate of 6.8 percent. Apartments constructed in the 1950s had a vacancy rate of 22.5 percent, while 1970s-era apartments were 12.2 percent vacant in the first quarter. Meanwhile, apartment complexes with 200 to 349 units were 8.1 percent vacant in the first quarter, while those with 350 and more units had a vacancy rate of 9.5 percent. The highest first-quarter vacancy rate of 11.1 percent was found in apartment buildings of nine to 50 units.