New apartments are popping up all over central Denver, but developers might want to give Aurora more attention, according to a report Wednesday from Axiometrics.

Apartment rents in north Aurora rose 17.8 percent year-over-year in June to $1,144 a month, the biggest increase of any part of the metro area.

Far-southeast Denver had the next biggest increase, 17.3 percent, which pushed the average rent to $1,182. Central and southeast Aurora saw a 16.7 percent jump to $1,130 a month.

By contrast, rents across the metro Denver area rose 10.9 percent to an average of $1,333 a month.

The metro area reported the third-fastest rate of rent increases in the country, behind Oakland, Calif., and Portland, Ore. It also was more than double the robust 5.1 percent average increase nationally in June.

The rate of increase far outpaces income gains and the ability of households to keep up. Metro Denver tenants appear to be hunting for affordability, and that is pushing up rents in lower-cost areas, said Cary Bruteig, a principal with Apartment Appraisers & Consultants in Denver.

Westminster, Littleton, Northglenn, Thornton and south Lakewood were among the areas with the largest rent increases after Aurora, according to Axiometrics.

“Landlords in Aurora’s submarkets have an almost perfect situation to raise rents,” Stephanie McCleskey, Axiometrics’ vice president of research, said in the report.

Occupancy rates in three of the four Aurora submarkets are above 96 percent, and little new supply is coming online, which is opposite the case of Denver, she said.

Axiometrics estimates Aurora, with a population of about 346,000, will have added a total of 1,783 apartments over the span of 2014 and 2015. Two-thirds of those will come on the city’s newer and more expensive south side.

By contrast, downtown Denver, with a population of less than 20,000, is expecting 3,965 apartments over the same period.

“Developers have not been building in Aurora because rents simply have not been high enough to justify development,” Bruteig said. “With further rent increases, that could change.”

Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi