Colorado Springs has not been able to build enough housing to sustain its population. A recent housing report from the city and El Paso County estimates the region is nearly 30,000 units behind local governments’ goals.
“El Paso County is one of the few counties that's still seeing a population increase across the state,” said Katie Sunderlin, the city’s housing solutions manager. “Most years we haven't met the target number of (building) permits that we need to even start to really close this gap.”
That was the case in 2025 as well. However, last year did show a bright spot in the permitting and construction of new apartment units in the state’s second-largest city.
The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, the regional agency that regulates and oversees construction, issued permits for 2,744 apartment units last year. That’s more than twice as many permits issued in 2024 — and more than half of those permits were issued in the final two months of the year.
Sunderlin noted that 700 of those permitted units will be designated as rent-restricted affordable housing, set aside for those making less than the area median income of about $80,000 a year.
They include two new apartment buildings in the city’s downtown core solely focused on affordable housing. Sumner House, adjacent to South Shooks Run Park, is now leasing. Art Space, intended to house local creatives and graduate students, is nearly finished with construction.
“We're really excited about these,” Sunderlin said.
While the total number of apartment units permitted in 2025 was higher than the previous two years, it was well behind 2022, when a record-breaking 4,963 permits were issued.
Notably, the regional building department reports that 64 new condo units were given permits in 2025, the most since 2007. The state legislature passed a new law changing Colorado’s construction laws in an attempt to foster more condo construction in 2025.
Meanwhile, the regional building department reports that more than 4,100 apartment units were leased to renters and buyers in 2025, and more than 4,500 units remain under construction.
When it comes to the single-family housing market in the Pikes Peak Region, the results were more tepid. The building department issued permits for 2,811 new homes in 2025, a one-percent decrease from the previous year.
Year-end data from the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors showed the total number of homes sold in the region was 11,788, slightly ahead of last year but well below heights seen during the pandemic.
The median price of a single-family home also dropped dramatically in December, down more than $30,000 to $460,000. That was the lowest median price seen in all of 2025.
