Rising Housing Costs Reshape Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs officials said on December 8, 2025, that a regional housing assessment found the city and surrounding area were short 27,712 housing units as of 2023, with 60,034 additional homes needed by 2035. The report tied the gap to rising home values, limited rental options and a mismatch between available housing and the needs of seniors, single-person households, young professionals and low- to moderate-income workers. More than half of renters and nearly one in three homeowners in the region are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of income on housing, according to the city. Housing advocates and city officials say those pressures are showing up in where people live, what kind of homes they can afford and how far they travel for work. ### How large is the housing shortfall Colorado Springs says it faces? The City of Colorado Springs told City Council in December that the region’s housing shortage stood at 27,712 units, based on its 2025 Regional Housing Needs Assessment. The same report projected a need for 60,034 additional homes by 2035 and said the community would have to roughly double its annual production pace to close the gap. (coloradosprings.gov) Amy Cox, the city’s chief housing and homelessness response officer, said in May that the shortage “has been decades in the making” and dates back to the Great Recession and years of underbuilding. Colorado Public Radio reported that roughly 80,000 people moved to Colorado Springs from 2006 to 2016 while building activity lagged, citing city data. ### What do rents and home prices look like right now? (coloradosprings.gov) Zillow said the average home value in Colorado Springs was $450,254 through June 30, 2026, down 1.8% from a year earlier, while the median sale price was $451,667 in May. Redfin separately reported that the median sale price over the three months ending in May 2026 was about $450,000, down 3.3% from a year earlier. (cpr.org) Apartment List said the citywide median rent was $1,347 in early August 2026, including $1,113 for a one-bedroom and $1,304 for a two-bedroom apartment. Zillow’s rental market tracker, which uses a different methodology and includes all property types, put the average rent at $1,950 as of August 2. February data from the Pikes Peak Housing Network showed that average rents and home prices in Colorado Springs and El Paso County had risen two to three times faster than average incomes over the past decade. (zillow.com) The group said residents were losing purchasing power even as the mix of new construction improved somewhat in 2025. (apartmentlist.com) ### Who is feeling the squeeze most directly? The city’s assessment said low- to moderate-income workers, seniors and single-person households are among the groups most affected by the shortage and by the mismatch between existing housing stock and current household demographics. The report also said limited rental options are part of the affordability problem. (gazette.com) Jill Gaebler, executive director of the Pikes Peak Housing Network, told CPR in May that when there are not enough units, prices rise. She said it is “almost impossible” to build what housing advocates call naturally occurring affordable housing because of zoning, inflation, labor shortages and other cost pressures. ### Are officials and advocates using the same numbers? (coloradosprings.gov) CPR reported in May that the Pikes Peak Housing Network’s own calculation showed a smaller deficit than the city’s figure — 13,815 units in El Paso County — because the nonprofit used a simpler method based on household growth plus a 10% allowance for a healthier market. Gaebler said that extra margin reflects the amount of slack needed for a more fluid housing market. (cpr.org) Max D’Onofrio, a city spokesperson, told CPR the city’s methodology was more complex, but said the figure should be understood as an indicator of housing stress pushing up costs for residents. The difference in estimates has not changed the broader conclusion shared by both the city and advocates: supply is short of need. ### What are city leaders doing about it? (cpr.org) Colorado Springs said it opted into Proposition 123 in 2023, making the city eligible for additional state funding tied to affordable and attainable housing. On its affordable housing page, the city says it plans to work with for-profit and nonprofit developers to produce 758 or more new affordable units each year. The city also said its housing department uses federal grant funds and private activity bonds for multifamily housing, single-family housing and tenant-based rental assistance. (cpr.org) Officials said in December that the next step after the assessment was a Housing Action Plan, and the city has posted the full report and dashboards online for residents to review. (coloradosprings.gov)