Real Estate

Denver Renters Just Got the Upper Hand for the First Time in a Decade

a national listing site puts the average Denver rent at

,000 as of September 1, 2026, down

95 in a year, and 20,321 new apartments under construction mean concessions are everywhere.

By Derek Schulze · September 6, 2026

Denver Renters Just Got the Upper Hand for the First Time in a Decade

,000. That is the average rent across every bedroom count and property type in Denver right now, according to a national listing site's rental data last updated September 1, 2026. A year ago it was

95 higher. And a national listing site slapped one word on the whole market to describe it: COOL.

"Construction in Downtown Denver" by Luis in Denver is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Most people do not realize how rare this moment is. If you are signing a new lease or renewing this fall, you actually have leverage. Real leverage. The kind Denver renters have not had in about ten years.

Here is the thing. This did not happen because demand dried up. It happened because Denver kept building.

"The Glass House, Denver Colorado" by ToddWCarpenter is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The building boom that cooled the whole thing off

Denver added 16,970 new apartment units in 2025. That is not a typo. And as of November 2025, developers reported 20,321 more units underway, with roughly 115,000 additional units sitting in planning and permitting. That is a firehose of supply hitting a market that used to squeeze every renter for every dollar.

When that much product comes online at once, landlords stop dictating terms. The Apartment Association of Metro Denver says rents have dropped to a four-year low while concessions have hit record highs. Yardi's numbers put Denver near the bottom of every major U.S. metro for rent growth, down about 5%.

So what does that mean when you are standing in a leasing office? Property managers say concessions in this market can add up to 10% of the annual rent value. Two months free. Waived fees. A gift card, a discount, whatever it takes to fill the unit. That is real money you can ask for now, and honestly, if you do not ask you are leaving it on the table.

"Ray Apartments" by Jeffrey Beall is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The actual numbers, by unit and by neighborhood

RentCafe, updated August 31, 2026, has the average Denver apartment at

,914. That is a 1.5% drop from

,943 a year earlier. Break it down by size and you get a clearer picture:

- Studios:

,426 for about 520 square feet - One-bedrooms:

,716 for 719 square feet - Two-bedrooms:

,230 for 1,062 square feet - Three-bedrooms:

,891 for 1,381 square feet

Location still swings hard. Cherry Creek sits near the top at

,957 a month. Go over to College View and South Platte and the average is

,304, well under the citywide number. That is a

,653 monthly gap depending on which side of town you land on.

And this is a renter's city, full stop. RentCafe counts 171,873 renter-occupied households, about 51%, versus 163,555 owner-occupied at 49%. More than half of Denver rents. So a market this soft touches a lot of people.

CBS Colorado backs up the trend across the whole Front Range, calling it the lowest rent point in three years. Metro Denver average now sits just over

,800 a month, down from a little more than

,900 last year. The catch is that it depends heavily on which county you are in. Adams and Arapahoe stay more affordable. Douglas and Boulder rank among the most expensive. So your negotiating power is not evenly spread.

Not every rental dropped the same

Here is a detail that matters if you are shopping. The big multifamily buildings took the hit. Apartment and condo rents are down roughly $48 a month year over year. Single-family home rentals dropped a lot harder, down about

40 a month from their 2022 to 2023 peaks.

Why the difference? Single-family rentals were more insulated at first because there is only so much supply of actual houses. But when they did soften, they softened deep. So if you have been wanting a yard and a garage instead of a fifth-floor unit, the math is closer than it has been in years. (Hayley and I have watched this exact shift play out with people we know who traded up from an apartment to a rented house for barely more per month.)

The other side of a soft market

I am not going to pretend low rent is good news for everyone. Denver eviction filings in 2025 already passed the prior year's total. A cooling market and a rising eviction count at the same time tells you plenty of households are still stretched thin.

Mayor Mike Johnston proposed bumping the city's Temporary Rent and Utility Assistance budget from

2.2 million to

5.1 million, funded by one-time American Rescue Plan Act interest dollars. And the Colorado Emergency Rental Assistance Program is set to reopen November 12 as a statewide safety net. So the relief programs are still under pressure even as headline rents fall.

What to actually do about it

If your lease is up, do not just sign the renewal that lands in your inbox. Look at what comparable buildings are offering right now, walk in with those numbers, and ask for a concession. In this market a lot of landlords would rather give you a month free than watch the unit sit empty while 20,321 new ones come online down the street.

The window will not stay open forever. Supply this heavy eventually gets absorbed. But for this fall, the person holding the pen is you. Use it.

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