Resort Market Apartment Vacancies Soar

The 32.8% found in Lake County, which includes Leadville, a bedroom community for workers in places such as Vail and Summit County, is the highest vacancy rate for a market ever recorded by Von Stroh.

Von Stroh says Leadville is a special case because many construction workers, such as plumbers, electricians and framers, rent there. This season, there is less construction than in the mountains than normal.

Jamie Fitzpatrick, of Denver-based Corum Real Estate, which owns or manages about 1,500 units in the mountains, and handles all of the rental leasing for Vail Resorts, says he thinks the vacancy numbers are too high.

Von Stroh says it is true that leasing activity has picked up substantially since his survey was taken in early September. In the past, ski resorts and other businesses already had been well into hiring by September, but this year they wanted more assurances that the economy was recovering, he tells GlobeSt.com.

The vacancies in most ski resorts were dramatic. In Aspen, the apartment vacancy rate almost doubled to 18.1% from 9.7% in the third quarter of 2002, while the average monthly rent fell to $952 from $1,027.

Eagle County saw an even more dramatic change, with its vacancy rate rising to 17.1% from 1.2%. However, its average monthly rent rose to $1,010 from $969.

At Steamboat Springs, the vacancy rate almost tripled to 11.3% from 4%, while the average monthly rent dropped to $700 from $758 in the third quarter of 2002.

Summit County, which includes the ski resorts of Copper Mountain, Keystone and Breckenridge, showed the least change. Its vacancy rate rose to 7.3% from 5.3% in the third quarter of 2002, while its average monthly rent dropped to $771 from $805 a year earlier.