Denver to add 13,000 apartment units by end of 2024: Report

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According to the annual Apartment Construction Report by rentcafe.com, the Denver metro area will deliver 13,000 new units by the end of 2024.

That lands Denver at tenth in the U.S. among cities adding the most apartments. By comparison, Nashville will add 12,100 units, San Antonio 9,617 units and Los Angeles 8,924 units, according to the report.

City by city in the Denver metro area, Denver leads with 7,840 units set to open before the end of the year, followed by Aurora with 1,387 units, Thornton, and Bloomfield with about 530 new units each and Englewood with 414 new rentals.

Bubble will eventually burst in Denver, grow in Aurora

The building frenzy in Denver will not last forever, the report says. Through 2028, the metro is projected to lose its momentum by a 7.8% decrease compared to 2019-2023. About 46,629 units are expected to open in the following five years.

“Compared to the previous five-year period, the Mile-High City will see a 17.3% decrease in new units, with 23,421 expected between 2024-2028,” according to a news release. “In contrast, Aurora will welcome 95.6% more units, doubling the number of apartments added in the last five years (from 4,611 to approximately 9,018 units).”

National trends mirror Front Range, but at a slower pace

Nationally, similar trends are unfolding. “To determine where this year’s apartment frenzy is unfolding and to peek into future trends, we analyzed 370 U.S. metropolitan areas using Yardi Matrix data,” according to the news release. “Nationwide, 2024 is set to make history in apartment construction, surpassing the 500,000-unit threshold for the first time on record. But after this unprecedented peak, a slowdown is on the horizon through 2027.”

Nationally, 2 million new apartments are expected by 2028, with 52% of the 370 metros analyzed likely to experience a slowdown in construction between 2024 and 2028.