New development drove up APCHA activity in 2023

APCHA’s year-end HomeTrek report showed a significant uptick in applications and bids for ownership units compared to 2022.

HomeTrek is the data management software that tracks unit and resident information across the housing authority’s 3,213 units. It’s also where prospective buyers fill out qualification packets and bid on properties in the APCHA lottery.

APCHA approved or denied 2,508 applications for rentals and ownership units in 2023, up by 1,004 over 2022. Most applications were approved, with 1,545 approvals and 163 denials.

There were 334 more long-term rental applications, 348 more tax credit rental applications, 224 more seasonal rental applications, and 98 more sales ownership applications.

Andrew Miller, an APCHA analyst, said that excess income was the number one reason for application denials, followed by not meeting the minimum occupancy requirement for a unit. Temporary legal status in the country was the next most common reason for denial, but APCHA’s recently updated regulations eliminated legal status as a requirement for an accepted application.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

The housing stock

The total inventory of APCHA deed-restricted units is 3,213. Ownership units account for just more than half with 1,733. Rentals number 1,369, with 1,094 long-term rental units and 275 seasonal rental units. Units that could be either rented or sold, according to their deed restriction, fall in the “other” category, of which there are 111 units.

The vast majority of inventory lies within Aspen city limits: 2,432 units. Of those, 1,090 units are ownership and 1,255 units are rentals. Eighty-seven units are “other.”

The report noted that inventory is always being clarified and the final number may leave out some types of dwelling units that are deed-restricted.

Ownership units and the lottery

The most significant event for APCHA in 2023 was Burlingame Ranch Phase III finally coming online with 36 lotteries for 74 units. That influx of stock bumped up application and move-in numbers for the sale of deed-restricted housing.

Ownership bids in 2023 outpaced 2022 by 2,072 bids with 3,267 total throughout the year. Ownership qualification packets were approved at a rate of 93%. 

Sales data shows that in 2023, Categories 2, 3, and 4 were the most frequently approved income categories. That number does reflect the available stock as much as the prospective buyers.

Category 1 had zero bids, Category 2 had 150 bids, Category 3 had 1,175 bids, Category 4 had 197 bids, and Category RO (resident-occupied) had zero bids in 2023.

One- and two-bedroom units led the pack for bids by bedroom count. One six-bedroom unit received 18 bids in 2023. The vast majority of bids, 79%, came from households without dependents.

With 44 more lotteries in 2023 than in 2022, the average work history for a lottery winner skewed down from 18.5 years to 17 years. The longer a bidder’s work history, the greater their weight in the lottery process.

Thirty-one more units closed/sold in 2022 than in 2023, with an average sales price of $405,232 across the 90 units sold.

Category 2 average sales price was $170,262, with 11 units sold. Category 3 average sales price was $219,718, with 23 units sold. Category 4 average sales price was $323,547, with 33 units sold. Category 5 average sales price was $595,563, with four units sold, And Category RO average sales price was $867,704, with 19 units sold. 

The average sales prices for the categories piqued the interest of the board, particularly concerning the potential gap between someone at the top of their income category buying a home at the lowest price point of that category. APCHA categories are set up in ranges for both income and sales price.

“I wonder if there’s a way to look at that a little more comprehensively. We might consider whether we want to buy those and sell them at a higher rate and reinvest that money if it would be appropriate for those units; but I just don’t even know if we have enough information to have that conversation,” said Pitkin County Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury. “It’s almost like a windfall. I’m not sure that that serves the program.”

Rentals

HomeTrek only collects data on APCHA-managed rental properties: Aspen Country Inn, Smuggler Mountain Apartments, Truscott Phase I and II, and Marolt Ranch — the seasonal workforce housing development. 

But they do qualify renters at deed-restricted properties throughout the county. Approval and denial of long-term rental applications were split nearly down the middle. More applicants who were applying for the first time were denied than those re-qualifying. Seasonal rentals were approved about 89% of the time. 

Move outs at APCHA-managed properties were pretty slim apart from Marolt Ranch, which offers seasonal housing. Aspen Country Inn recorded one moveout, Smuggler recorded two, Truscott I recorded 17, and Truscott II recorded 10 move outs in 2023. Of all available units in APCHA-managed rental properties, only about 9% of long-term units turned over. Move outs occurred in 36% of units if Marolt Ranch is included.

Interest in rental units far outpaced availability at the APCHA-managed properties.

Maintenance requests were largely plumbing-related across all five properties. HomeTrek tracked 289 more maintenance requests in 2023 than 2022.