The One Place in Metro Denver Where Rent Actually Went Down

Rent prices in metro Denver, which reached record high levels in June, continue to rise almost everywhere in the area, including within city limits. The August rent report from Apartment List reveals that the rate of the increases has slowed, however, and in one community, the cost actually went down.

The median monthly price tag on a two-bedroom in Wheat Ridge fell by a grand total of $20.

The recent positive signs are the first in the better part of a year. From November to December 2021, rent in the City and County of Denver dropped by 1.1 percent, more than double the 0.4 percent slide from October to November. But the decrease lagged in January, when Denver’s median rent went down by only 0.2 percent, and after that there were five consecutive boosts, each one larger than the last: 0.3 percent in February, 0.6 percent in March, 1.0 percent in April, 1.2 percent in May, and 1.5 percent in June.

Denver’s overall rent hike of 8.8 percent since this time last year is actually lower than the state average of 10 percent and the national average of 12.3 percent over the same period. And the city’s increase was surpassed by all but one of the thirteen metro towns and suburbs put under Apartment List’s microscope: Broomfield, at 8.6 percent. The bumps among the other twelve ranged from 9.8 percent in Wheat Ridge to 13.8 percent in Englewood.

In July, Wheat Ridge saw the only month-over-month slide, by 1.4 percent. Littleton (plus 0.1 percent) and Broomfield (up 0.4 percent) saw smaller hikes than did Denver, whose 0.8 percent escalation was matched by Aurora and Arvada and exceeded by six other communities; Castle Rock’s 2.4 percent led the way.

In July, median rents for two-bedroom units landed at $1,780 in Denver, compared to $1,810 in Golden, $1,830 in Englewood, $1,950 in Thornton, $1,980 in Littleton, $2,090 in Castle Rock, $2,110 in Westminster, $2,150 in Broomfield, $2,240 in Parker and a gasp-inducing $2,360 in Lone Tree. In Wheat Ridge, though, the median two-bedroom went for a relatively paltry $1,460.

Here’s the complete rundown:

Not on this roster is Boulder, the subject of its own Apartment List rent report. In June, Boulder rents tumbled by 1.0 percent, but prices essentially plateaued a month later: A one-bedroom increased by $2 to $1,522 in July, while a two-bedroom increased by $3 to $1,940.

In the current market, that qualifies as good news.