As fast as apartment units are filling up across the region, so are single-family homes for rent, especially in Greeley, where more foreclosures hit the market in the recession and where oil and gas workers have been swarming in.

Property managers in Greeley say they can’t answer their phone fast enough to keep up with the demand for single-family homes, and landlords are charging more for rent as vacancy rates drop.

Jana Pickett of Scott Realty, who manages 243 properties, said that most of the properties she markets are taken within days, and that some renters are so desperate for a place to live that they agree to rent the property sight unseen.

“There are more people than properties,” Pickett said. “I’m overwhelmed with calls.”

Of course, more demand leads to higher prices, so rents have gone up anywhere between 10 and 30 percent, depending on the location of the property, Pickett said. As little as eight months ago, average rent for a single-family home in Greeley was just over $1,000, but now that number is closer to $1,400.

Most renters, however, are “desperate” enough that they’ll pay the rent, Pickett said. The influx of oil