Colorado Springs' topsy-turvy apartment market fared better in the third quarter of this year than a few months earlier, according to a report released Wednesday by the Colorado Division of Housing.

The vacancy rate for about 44,000 local apartments dipped to 9.2 percent from July to September, down from 10.2 percent in the second quarter, the report stated.
The latest vacancy rate was up from 8.6 percent during the third quarter of 2007.

The report, based on a survey conducted for the Housing Division by University of Denver business professor Gordon Von Stroh, also showed that apartment complexes near Fort Carson - where thousands of soldiers have been deployed to Iraq - continued to have a vacancy rate of nearly 25 percent, the area's highest.

"It's up a little, down a little," said Doug Carter, a veteran Springs commercial broker who specializes in multifamily properties for the national real estate firm Sperry Van Ness. "The trend is a very slight improvement."

Third-quarter rents averaged $699.09 a month, down from $705.51 in the second quarter and $703.74 in the third quarter of 2007, the Housing Division said.

Carter said the market probably will continue to fluctuate because of the slumping economy, back-and-forth troop movements at Fort Carson and volatility in the single-family housing market, among other factors.

Still, the 9.2 percent third-quarter vacancy rate is several percentage points below the area's record 14 percent of several years ago, and is well below many other cities around the country, Carter said.

-

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0228 or rich.laden@gazette.com