The students are back in town.
Classes at Fort Lewis College will begin Sept. 1. The annual return of the college students – FLC enrolls about 4,000, some of whom live in Durango year-round – sets off a scramble for rental housing in Durango’s limited market.
Few apartments are available for less than $1,000, property managers said. However, there are some anecdotal signs that Durango’s extraordinarily tight rental housing crunch may be easing.
Fewer families are looking to rent, so some properties that typically house families are instead being leased to students.
Interest rates remain relatively low, and mortgages can be had for not much more than rent in some cases, enticing families to buy instead of rent.
“When rents get to $1,500 and above, you might as well have a mortgage payment,” said Donna Nazario, a property manager at The Property Manager in Durango.
Durango’s vacancy rate was 1.2 percent in the most recent statewide survey by the Colorado Division of Housing, covering the first quarter of 2014. The Colorado vacancy rate during that quarter was 5.2 percent. The average rent in the state surpassed $1,000.
The rental market in Durango remains somewhat tight, but vacancies can be found. Nazario showed an apartment in Terrace Gardens with two bedrooms and one bath. The apartment is due for an update, including new paint and carpet, Nazario said.
Caroni Adams, broker at The Property Manager, said the business still has numerous vacancies. “It’s available,” she said.
Julie Love, director of student housing and conference services, said she’s hearing fewer complaints from students this summer about their difficulties finding housing.
“We’re not hearing as many of those comments this year,” she said. “Maybe it is a little bit easier for them to find things.”
Move-in day on campus will be Aug. 28, and the college is still receiving applications and cancellations, Love said. FLC does not yet know what its vacancy rate will be.
“We have more flexibility than we had last fall,” she said.
Love said students are often surprised by the cost of housing in Durango.
“There always is a little bit of sticker shock,” she said.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
