Expect more apartments across Denver

Roughly 12,580 new apartment units are expected to be completed across Denver this year, up from 10,873 in 2020, according to a new report.

Why it matters: A housing shortage in the U.S. has contributed to the rising cost of both renting and buying.

What's happening: Denver is among the top 20 metros where roughly 41% of U.S. renters live, per the report by RentCafe, which analyzed data from real estate intelligence service Yardi Matrix.

• A historic surge in new apartment supply — 1.2 million units were completed during the pandemic — helped slow rent growth nationwide.

The big picture: Nearly three-fourths of renters say they're renting in an area where they couldn't afford to buy, according to a new survey from RealPage, a real estate analytics and software company.

Yes, but: Around 89% of the U.S. units completed from 2020 through 2022 are high-end, per the report, and not the type of affordable apartments many renters want.

• Go deeper: Denver luxury apartments grow even more luxe

What they're saying: Steep mortgage rates and homeowners association fees have kept Jessica Thomas stuck renting in Denver, where she's been looking to buy for the last two years, Sami reports.

• "I thought I'd be in my own home by now," Thomas tells Axios.

Reality check: Affordability isn't the only reason people rent. Thomas, who lives alone, says she likes that maintenance is someone else's responsibility.

What's next: Across the U.S., 1 million rental units are slated for completion through 2025, but higher costs and other headwinds could slow developers' pace in future years.

• "Tightening of bank lending standards — combined with rising costs of construction materials, labor and land — has made new projects harder to pencil," senior analyst Doug Ressler at Yardi Matrix says in the report.