Portland Real Estate Market thread

[maccoinnich]

Here's an extract:

Portland multifamily market stabilizes but dwindling pipeline cause for concern



A new report paints an 'optimistic outlook' for the Portland metro's multifamily commercial real estate market.

For the first time since Q1 2021, demand for apartment units outpaced new supply. That's according to a Q2 multifamily report from real estate firm Colliers. For every new apartment unit that became available in the Portland metro, 1.46 existing units were absorbed.

As a result, occupancy rates inched up 30 basis points to 94.1%, down from a recent high of 97.2% in Q1 2022.

"Generally a healthy market is 95%," said Colliers Research Analyst Jamison Shields. "We're still a bit below that but we're trending back toward that healthy line."

Rents in Q2 held steady compared to a year earlier, with average Portland metro rents of $1,742. Hillsboro was the strongest submarket, with rents rising 2.7% year over year to $1,967.

Overall, Shields said the Q2 data reflects a stabilizing market.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

And here's the report the story is based on.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Here's an extract:



...continues at the Portland Business Journal ($).

And here's the report the story is based on.

If we are in an affordable housing crisis, how is it “optimistic” that there is more demand than units coming online? Wouldn’t that just exacerbate the issue?

And from the Colliers article, it seems the change in supply/demand is about less units being developed, not a sudden influx of new residents.

So in the end, prices are the same.

[maccoinnich]

It's good news for you if you're the kind of person who has a subscription to the Portland Business Journal, which includes a lot of people who work in the design, development, construction and leasing of multifamily housing.

It's bad news for you if you're renter, should absorption stays strong in the next couple years once there's next-to-nothing coming to market.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

It's good news for you if you're the kind of person who has a subscription to the Portland Business Journal, which includes a lot of people who work in the design, development, construction and leasing of multifamily housing.

It's bad news for you if you're renter, should absorption stays strong in the next couple years once there's next-to-nothing coming to market.

Ok, I thought maybe I was missing something with this. Then I thought about what it means and it wasn't as good.

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025...g-investors-amid-construction-slump.html

Oregon governor, Portland mayor will personally court housing investors amid construction slump
Updated: Jul. 30, 2025, 8:11 a.m.|Published: Jul. 28, 2025, 3:51 p.m.
By Jonathan Bach | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Gov. Tina Kotek and Mayor Keith Wilson plan a charm offensive this fall to win over housing investors skeptical of putting their money in Portland.

Kotek said in an interview that she and Wilson agreed to meet with investors this fall to press them on the business case for Portland.

“We’re going to have to stay on the development community,” Kotek said.

Portland needs to build more housing, economists and officials say, to contain the cost of living. But many real estate investors decamped Portland in the wake of 2020 protests and the ensuing reputational damage.

After a stunning run in the 2010’s construction boom, Portland plunged to 80th of 81 metro areas in the latest Urban Land Institute report that tracks overall real estate prospects — a survey closely watched by investors and other insiders looking at where to place their money.

Homebuilders lean on those outside investors to bankroll new projects. Portland fared better in the ULI report on its homebuilding prospects alone at 30th place.

Wilson and Kotek have proposed knocking down barriers to new construction, including by waiving some housing construction fees for three years. The Portland City Council adopted the system development charge waiver earlier this month, a move cheered by the development community.

...(continues)

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025...g-investors-amid-construction-slump.html



...(continues)

If the demand for housing is real in Portland, it tells me there MUST be something structural in the way the region runs (taxes, labor union costs, permit costs/time, affordable housing mins, etc) that is an impediment to housing development here, that doesn't exist in all other areas with a similar housing demand. That's the only other variable that would keep development so low relative to peers.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by PhillyPDX

If the demand for housing is real in Portland, it tells me there MUST be something structural in the way the region runs (taxes, labor union costs, permit costs/time, affordable housing mins, etc) that is an impediment to housing development here, that doesn't exist in all other areas with a similar housing demand. That's the only other variable that would keep development so low relative to peers.

Hopefully with this exercise the Mayor and Governor will listen to those concerns from developes/investors and either dispel myths, or propose structural changes to encourage the resumption of construction activity.

[PhillyPDX]

Originally Posted by MarkDaMan

Hopefully with this exercise the Mayor and Governor will listen to those concerns from developes/investors and either dispel myths, or propose structural changes to encourage the resumption of construction activity.

Oh yeah, it does seem like Kotek and Wilson understand.

[PhillyPDX]

This is interesting.

It's something I've asked in past (related), effectively we've lost population in last 5 years, and in meantime we've added thousands of new housing units to supply with new construction. So then, where are these units in overall supply to help bring down costs? Seems like the new units aren't bumping up supply to because others come offline, or we aren't tracking it correctly. So what's going on?

https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2025/08/editorial-portlands-missing-rental-units.html

[mhays]

Housing costs are dramatically lower than Seattle, SD, LA, or SF.

Some questions: While Oregon is great at reducing sprawl, does it do enough to encourage infill? Are enough places zoned for 6-8-story woodframes to make land costs reasonable on a per-new-unit basis? Are cities required to accept growth? Are fees out of hand? Can NIMBYs stop projects?

PS, isn't the entire forum about real estate? If this thread is about residential real estate it would help to call it that.