Is now a bad time to be looking for a place?

My rent went up just 2% this year, lowest increase ever. Fingers crossed!

Worse for renters or landlords?
They seem to be building a lot of apartments around town these days...

@3,

Vacancy rates are currently 3 percent. So, to answer your question, it's worse for renters.

Yeah and those Apodments that are supposed to be ohsoaffordable? They raised the rate on my kid from $575 to $750 within 2 months of her renting one.

Purchase rates still seem fairly low though. I've seen 1 bedroom condos with dishwashers and washing machines in unit for less than 150 grand. I have no idea what the condo dues are like though, i've never actually owned a condo, just shopped around a little. If you can swing a loan it might be cheaper and easier to buy a condo or something. Still gotta be able to get a loan though, which is a tall order these days.

The housing market is just as bonkers for buyers. The house next door to us was a rental for years that is being flipped to sale. The day that the for sale sign went up, and for the next week, there were literally people there dawn to dusk checking out the house. Often multiple competing groups, and this is a 700 square foot house on 1/8th of an acre 3~ blocks removed from the nearest bus line and 1/4~ miles removed from the nearest major bus hub. It went to inspection 3 weeks after it went on sale.

When we moved into the neighborhood in March last year, there were like a dozen plus houses on sale within a block of us and you'd never see people checking out homes, but rarely. Every single for-sale sign is gone now, a year later. And last time I checked, Arbor Heights isn't a "cool" neighborhood. We're a backwater.

@5 She could move....

@5 Do you not sign leases for apodments?

The rental market sucks for renters in Denver (and Denver subs) too.

My rent increased 10% last year and management just told me it's going to increase another 10% this year.

I'm already looking for something else, but it's slim pickings.

Urgutha, if you shop around, you'll find that everything has gone up by that much. It really sucks (especially for those of us on a fixed income), but there's no winning at this game.

But #12, apodments are so cool. And affordable! The Stranger says so! It must be true!

@5,

They're not even doing six-month leases on those things? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You may already know this, but they're required by law to give 60 days' notice for any rent increase that exceeds 10 percent within a 12-month period, not that I've encountered a single landlord who complies with that law.

@12 how much do people think rents are going to stay at today's rates, give or take? Hint: they won't. Unless we start building MASSIVE amounts of new stock, the current ones will get more and more prized. More and more people keep moving here. Build up and out like crazy, or we can enjoy our NYC/SF/Boston level rents in 10-20 years.

@15, but, but, what about my God-given right to unobstructed views of the Wright family's private tourist trap!?! That is surely worth $40 or so a square foot.

@11,

god fucking dammit

Great and I move back in May and get to try to find an apartment I can afford.