Rent Growth in Fort Collins Exceptionally High

The fourth most populous city in Colorado is logging peak apartment rent growth. Effective asking rents in Fort Collins accelerated by 15.5% in the year-ending October 2021. While this certainly was not the first time rent growth in Fort Collins accelerated into double-digit territory, this latest performance was a record high not seen since RealPage began tracking the market in the late 2000s. Rent growth in Fort Collins is now a long way from the recent low point, when operators cut rents by 3.1% in the year-ending November 2020. Like many markets around the nation, a confluence of factors accelerated post-pandemic performance in the Colorado college town. Strong demand fueled occupancy performance in the small market, leading to an October rate of 96.9%, up 280 basis points in the past year. Occupancy in Fort Collins has hovered around 97% for the last five months and is expected to remain essentially full over the next two years with occupancy around 95% to 96%.