Sell Your Commercial Property In Douglas County, CO

Who rents in Douglas County

Renters head 31,651 of the 139,960 occupied households in Douglas County, a 22.6% share in the 2020-2024 ACS. Owners hold the remaining 108,309 households, a 77.4% share that marks Douglas County as one of the more owner-heavy counties in the Denver metro. That renter base still grew 24.8% over the prior five-year survey period, adding 6,286 households.

Aurora, inside the same Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro as Douglas County, carries a far larger renter pool at 37.6% of its households. Parker runs closer to the Douglas County average at 28.2%, while Castle Rock sits lower at 21.2%. Each city gives a Douglas County apartment buyer a different tenant mix to underwrite.

Rents, growth and affordability in Douglas County

Median gross rent in Douglas County climbed 27.1%, from $1,725 to $2,193, between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 surveys. Population grew 12.2% over the same span, reaching 377,150 residents, while employment rose 14.0% to 207,788 workers.

Supply grew faster than either figure. Units in 5+ unit buildings in Douglas County rose 40.8%, an increase of 7,607 units, which helps keep rental vacancy at 4.4%. Rent burden still runs high: 51.3% of Douglas County renters paid 30% or more of income on gross rent in the 2020-2024 ACS.

HUD's FY2027 two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for the Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO MSA is $2,169, effective October 1, 2026, just under Douglas County's $2,193 median. Median household income reached $149,594, up 24.9% from $119,730, giving Douglas County renters more cushion than many metro-area counties.

City-by-city comparison

Douglas County's three largest cities show a wide tenant range. Aurora carries the biggest renter share and apartment stock of the group; Castle Rock and Parker lean more toward ownership and single-family rentals.

Castle Rock posts the lowest rental vacancy of the three at 4.0%, tighter than the Douglas County rate of 4.4%. Parker's $2,096 median rent and 23.4% share of 5+ unit buildings sit between Aurora and Castle Rock. Aurora's 5.3% vacancy is the highest of the three, giving a Douglas County-area buyer more lease-up risk to underwrite there than in Castle Rock or Parker.

Property taxes and assessment in Douglas County

Colorado assesses multifamily property as residential, not commercial. Under HB24B-1001, the 2026 residential assessment rate is 6.8% for non-school levies and 7.05% for school-district levies, applied to actual value. Vacant land and true commercial property are assessed far higher, near 25-26% of actual value.

Douglas County, like every Colorado county, reassesses real property in odd-numbered years, using comparable sales rather than an acquisition-value cap. Colorado charges no transfer tax; only a state documentary fee under C.R.S. Section 39-13-102 applies, one cent per $100 of consideration above $500. A Douglas County seller should still pull the exact mill levy from the county assessor before pricing a deal, since school and special-district levies stack on top of the state-set assessment rate.

What this means if you sell in Douglas County

When you sell commercial property in Douglas County, CO, you sell into a market with a smaller renter base than most Front Range counties, 22.6% of households, but a tight 4.4% rental vacancy rate. Buyers will test your rent roll against that vacancy figure and against Aurora, Castle Rock and Parker, each pricing differently depending on which city your building sits in.

Rent control is not a factor. C.R.S. Section 38-12-301 preempts any county or municipal rent-control ordinance in Colorado, so Douglas County owners set rents by lease terms and demand. Cause requirements and notice periods under C.R.S. Section 38-12-1303 and Section 13-40-107 still govern how you handle existing tenants through a sale.

As a multifamily buyer active in Douglas County, we review 5+ unit buildings in Aurora, Castle Rock, Parker and the rest of the county as they stand today. Send a current rent roll, a T-12 and your latest tax statement, and we will price the building on those numbers.