Renters are feeling some relief as rental costs across the Mountain West are dropping. That’s thanks, in part, to a building boom. Yet, at the same time, home ownership remains out of reach for many.
The median price for a new lease is down 1.5% from a year ago across the country. But in some Mountain West states, the decline in costs to renters is much more, up to 5% in some places.
Rob Warnock is a lead economic researcher with Apartment List, which is behind the study.
“Five percent year over year declines in Denver, we’ve got around 4-5 percent in a lot of Arizona, Salt Lake City prices are down 2.5 percent, Las Vegas 3.5, Boise–prices are down there about a percentage point year over year,” said Warnock.
While this is good news for renters, Warnock said rents are still higher than they were before the COVID pandemic six years ago.
Still, Warnock says, the supply-demand equation in the marketplace gives a small edge to renters looking for a deal.
This new equation is also leading to a new market – builders are constructing homes to rent.
“There are estimates that upwards of 10% of new single family homes that are being built are being built explicitly to rent. That’s the market meeting the consumer where they’re at and adapting to the demands of the consumer,” said Warnock.
