Cooling is the central current signal for Zillow market identifier 80249. At the stated June endpoint, Zillow ZORI was $1,978 per month, down 2.8% from the same month a year earlier. ZORI is a ZIP-level typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, so it is a market-level asking-rent reading rather than a quoted rent for a particular available home. The decline frames the ZIP’s immediate rent direction, but it does not identify a specific property’s lease terms, utilities, bedroom count, or condition.
The one-year exact same-month history measure is the same 2.8% decline, while the three-year change was -0.4% annually and the five-year change was +2.7% annually. Recent direction therefore breaks from the longer positive path rather than confirming it. History coverage was 100% across the available Zillow ZIP series. Monthly movements produced 2.5% annualized variability, indicating that a current ZORI reading can move even when the longer path looks relatively restrained. The worst peak-to-trough decline was 4.3%, which further limits confidence in treating one current reading as a durable high point. Transparent national discovery ranks among history-eligible ZIPs were 2,787 for momentum, 655 for stability, and 2,248 for the balanced measure; these are backward-looking discovery measures, not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The bedroom figures are modelled estimates, not measured bedroom rents. They scale the ZIP ZORI by the local HUD ladder: $1,556 for a studio, $1,661 for one bedroom, $1,978 for two bedrooms, $2,589 for three bedrooms, and $2,887 for four bedrooms. HUD’s two-bedroom standard is $2,089. HUD FMR or SAFMR is an administrative, bedroom-specific standard rather than an asking-rent observation, so neither the HUD amount nor the scaled bedroom estimates should be read as a live rent comparable. Their value is internal consistency: they show how the local HUD bedroom ladder translates the all-type Zillow index into a transparent modelled range.
The matched Census ZCTA ACS five-year survey reports median gross rent of $2,211 for occupied renter homes; gross rent includes selected utilities. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP, which is a material boundary and universe limit when comparing it with ZIP-level Zillow data. The ZCTA median household income was $100,324. Annualizing the Zillow index creates a $79,120 income figure under a 30% screen, and the index equals 23.7% of that median household income. This is arithmetic only, not advice or an applicant qualification rule. Separately, 2,097 of 3,506 renter households, or 59.8%, reported spending at least 30% of income on rent. That burden measure is survey evidence about occupied renter households, not proof about affordability for any particular unit or household.
Housing stock and vacancy provide a separate ZCTA backdrop. The area contained 14,198 housing units and had a 3.9% overall vacancy rate. Its structure mix included 11,056 single-family units and 1,597 units in large multifamily buildings. These stock counts do not establish the availability, pricing, or condition of homes currently offered for lease. Likewise, overall vacancy combines multiple vacancy reasons and cannot demonstrate that a particular rental has concessions, is competitively priced, or will remain available. The principal tension is that the broad asking-rent index is cooling while the ACS burden measure remains substantial among occupied renter households.
Wider-market figures remain context rather than substitutes for ZIP evidence: Zillow asking rent was $1,877 in the Denver city context, $1,889 in the Denver County context, and $1,930 in the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO metro context. The ZIP index therefore sits above each of those wider asking-rent series, despite its recent decline. City, county, and metro observations cover broader populations and housing mixes than 80249; they should not be treated as ZIP rental comparables. Their useful role is to show that the current ZIP index is not moving from an obviously lower starting level relative to those named wider scopes.
Redfin supplies a different universe: a direct rolling-three-month ZIP for-sale/resale observation, not rental transactions. Median sold price was $447,349, down 3.8% year over year; 138 homes sold, median marketing time was 24 days, inventory was 105 homes, and months of supply were 2.3. Near-list average sale-to-list performance adds a sale-price signal, but it remains resale evidence only. The annualized ZIP ZORI divided by median sold price is 5.3%, a cross-source screening ratio rather than a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The falling resale price aligns with the cooling rent-history signal, while the observed transaction pace and limited supply challenge any simple conclusion that the resale side was broadly inactive.
Several limits remain decisive. Zillow is an all-type asking-rent index, ACS is a sampled five-year description of occupied homes with sampling uncertainty, HUD is an administrative standard, and Redfin summarizes completed ZIP resales over a rolling window. None measures a specific rental’s rent, utilities, lease duration, concessions, repairs, furnishing, parking, or tenant-paid costs. A property-level review should reconcile the actual asking rent with the bedroom configuration, included utilities, lease terms, recent comparable listings, and the property’s own sale and listing history. The unresolved question is whether a particular home’s all-in monthly terms resemble the broad ZIP index or depart from it for unit-specific reasons.
","findings":[{"body":"Cooling is the clearest current signal. The ZIP asking-rent index declined from its same-month prior reading, while the longer historical record retains a positive five-year annualized change. Complete coverage supports using the history as an observed record, but the recorded drawdown means a single current index value should not be treated as a stable endpoint.","title":"Recent rent direction diverges from the longer record"},{"body":"The ZORI-to-income calculation is a mechanical screen based on the current asking-rent index and area median household income. ACS rent burden instead summarizes surveyed occupied renter households that spend a defined share of income on gross rent. The contrast is decision-relevant, but neither measure determines whether a particular applicant can qualify for or comfortably carry a particular lease.","title":"Affordability measures answer different questions"},{"body":"The studio-through-four-bedroom figures are produced by scaling the ZIP-wide Zillow index with the local HUD bedroom ladder. They provide a consistent way to inspect bedroom differences, but they are not measured rents from live listings or signed leases. HUD standards are administrative benchmarks, so unit-level listing and lease evidence remains necessary for property-specific comparison.","title":"Bedroom rents are a transparent model, not observed comps"},{"body":"The direct ZIP resale series shows lower median sold prices alongside measurable transaction activity, limited supply, and near-list sale performance. That partially supports the cooling signal in rents while resisting a simple weak-market interpretation. Annualized asking rent divided by sold price is useful only as a cross-source screen and cannot establish operating costs, financing, property yield, or net return.","title":"Resale cooling does not convert into rental economics"}],"risks":["Zillow ZORI is blended across rental types and reflects asking-rent conditions, so it can differ materially from a specific home’s lease rate, included utilities, concessions, furnishing, condition, and availability date.","The ACS ZCTA is a statistical geography rather than a USPS delivery ZIP, and its five-year survey estimates describe occupied households rather than current listings or prospective renters.","HUD bedroom standards and the derived bedroom ladder are administrative and modelled tools, respectively; neither verifies the rent for a comparable bedroom count at a specific property.","Redfin resale metrics summarize completed for-sale transactions over a rolling period. They do not measure rental demand, landlord expenses, property-level cash flow, or the economics of an individual home."],"qa":[{"a":"The measures use different evidence universes. Zillow ZORI is a current typical observed asking-rent index blended across rental types, while ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes and includes selected utilities. Geographic boundaries also differ because the ACS source is a matched ZCTA rather than an identical delivery ZIP.","q":"Why can the Zillow index be lower than ACS median gross rent?"},{"a":"No. They are modelled monthly estimates created by scaling the ZIP-wide Zillow asking-rent index using the local HUD bedroom ladder. The method gives a transparent bedroom pattern, but it does not observe live listings, signed leases, property condition, concessions, utility treatment, or exact unit amenities.","q":"Are the bedroom figures measured rents for ZIP listings?"},{"a":"It is simple arithmetic: annualized Zillow asking rent divided by 30%. It is not financial advice, an affordability determination, or an applicant qualification rule. The separate ACS burden statistic describes surveyed occupied renter households and cannot establish the burden level, income, or lease outcome of a particular prospective tenant.","q":"What does the 30% required-income figure mean?"},{"a":"It should be treated only as annualized ZIP ZORI divided by the direct ZIP median sold price, which makes it a cross-source screening ratio. It is not a cap rate, property yield, expected return, or net return because it excludes operating costs, taxes, insurance, maintenance, financing, vacancy, and property-specific rent.","q":"How should the Redfin rent-to-price screen be used?"}],"sources":[{"key":"apartment_list_time_on_market","name":"Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquidity","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/category/data-rent-estimates"},{"key":"apartment_list_vacancy","name":"Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancy","release":"Apartment List 2026-07","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://www.apartmentlist.com/research/apartment-list-vacancy-index-methodology"},{"key":"census_zcta_facts","name":"Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and income","release":"ACS 2024 5-year ZCTA","pulledAt":"2026-08-08","url":"https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5.html"},{"key":"hud_zip","name":"HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent 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