In case there was any doubt, ARA's Terrance Hunt tells us that the current investment market for Denver-area apartment properties is unquestionably a sellers' market. "We've never had investor interest at this high of a level," he says. Market fundamentals have paved the way: over the last four years, Denver has been in the top four markets for rent growth, vacancy has dipped below 4%, and demand has absorbed all the new deliveries of apartments.

Terrance adds that his office has had 193 different bidders on its listings over the last three years. Of that total, 152 have yet to buy their first apartment property in Colorado because competition is so stiff (but most will probably keep trying). Recently ARA repped DiNapoli Capital Partners in its sale of the 360-unit St Moritz, a value-add in Lakewood near the recently opened Oak Light Rail Station, to California-based Lowe Enterprises Investors. The seller had already begun a unit renovation program that attracted strong investor interest, Terrance says.