Apartment association to hold annual banquet

The Apartment Association of Southern Colorado will hold its annual installation and awards banquet at 6 p.m. June 5 at the Doubletree Hotel World Arena, 1775 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd., on Colorado Springs' south side. Amy Moore of Holland Residential Group will be installed as board president. The cost to attend is $50 per person. More information or to register: 264-9195; http://www.aacshq.org/; or carlene@aaschq.org.

Apartment vacancies decline

The Colorado Springs-area apartment vacancy rate fell to 9 percent in the first quarter of 2008, down from the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2007, according to a new survey from the Apartment Association of Southern Colorado. But the area's economic vacancy rate is falling, too -- a sign that renter incentives are poised to disappear. The economic vacancy rate takes into account the percentage of vacant apartments and combines that figure with rent discounts and other concessions. In the Springs area, the economic vacancy rate in the first quarter averaged 21.3 percent. The figure was unchanged from the fourth quarter of last year, but was down sharply from 25.6 percent in the first quarter of 2007. The economic vacancy rate typically increases when there are plenty of apartments available to rent, and it declines as the apartment market improves. In late 2004, when the single-family home industry was going strong, mortgage rates were low and thousands of people were buying houses, landlord and apartment owners had to offer plenty of incentives. As s result, the economic vacancy rate soared to 30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004.

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.

Apartment, condo conference coming to Colorado Springs

The National Association of Home Builders is coming to Colorado Springs -- but not to discuss single-family homes. The NAHB 's Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Conference, a look at the state of the apartment and condominium markets, will take place from April 1-3 at The Broadmoor hotel in southwest Colorado Springs. The event will include a look at the health of the nation's apartment and condo industries, green building, investment opportunities and workforce housing, among several other topics. The event is designed for developers, builders, lenders, investors, property managers and apartment and condominium complex owners. More information and to register: www.nahb.org/PillarsConference

Apartment industry update scheduled Thursday

Fred Crowley, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs economist, and Springs commercial real estate broker Doug Carter of Sperry Van Ness, who specializes in multi-family properties, will present a forecast on the Pikes Peak region's apartment market from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Antlers Hilton Hotel, 4 S. Cascade Ave., in downtown Colorado Springs. The event is sponsored by the Apartment Association of Colorado Springs, ApartmentGuide.com and Arlun Floor Coverings and Design Center of Colorado Springs. Crowley and Carter will discuss where the market was a year ago, what's changed in the past year and market trends for 2008. The cost is $40 for Apartment Association members and $60 for non-members. More information: 264-9195.

Plenty of room at the inn, er, apartment

Renters are having little trouble finding an apartment in the Colorado Springs area, especially if they look south of town. A new survey found 11.4 percent of the area's 43,700 apartments were vacant during the first quarter of 2007, down from 12.6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, but up from 10.6 percent in the first quarter of 2006.

Because of Fort Carson deployments, vacancies were highest near the southside post; the first quarter vacancy rate was 24.3 percent for apartments in the city of Fountain and the unincorporated areas of Security and Widefield. The Springs' southeast side had a first-quarter vacancy rate of 14.5 percent.
Apartments were hardest to find in the central area of the city, where the vacancy rate was 9.2 percent.

First quarter rents across the metro area averaged $705.23 a month in the first quarter, up from $691.53 in the fourth quarter of 2006 and $703.10 in the first quarter of last year. The report was released by the Apartment Association of Colorado Springs and conducted by Denver University business professor Gordon Von Stroh, whose surveys are done in conjunction with the Colorado Division of Housing.