10-16-2013 05:56 PM

Full speed ahead for white-hot apartment market


The Portland apartment vacancy rate fell to 3.11 percent in a fall survey of 72,195 units by Multifamily NW, an apartment industry organization. Industry watchers say they've never seen a market that favored landlords so strongly.




As anyone trying to find an apartment to rent already knows, it’s tough going in Portland.
The area vacancy rate dropped to 3.11 percent in Multifamily NW’s fall survey. Results were released Wednesday morning at the industry association’s semi-annual breakfast.
Even with 189 projects in some form of development, rents are on the rise as well, climbing 6.8 percent in the past year. For older properties, rents are up in the 4-to-5-percent range.
“It’s clearly — CLEARLY — a landlord’s market,” said Mark Barry, a real estate appraiser and principal with Mark Barry & Associates.
The close-in neighborhoods of Southeast Portland and Northeast Portland are the region’s tightest markets, with vacancy rates hovering around 2.2 percent. Only four markets in the entire area have vacancy rates above 4 percent — Hillsdale, Clackamas, Troutdale/Gresham and Outer Northeast Portland.
Downtown Portland is the most expensive place to rent an apartment at $1.82 per square foot, or $1,456 per month for a typical 800-square-foot unit. Northwest Portland was next at $1.61 per square foot, or $1,288 per month. Outer Northeast Portland was the least expensive rental market at 86 cents per square foot or $685.
Barry reports there are nearly 23,000 apartment units either proposed, under construction or nearly complete. Multnomah County accounts for half the new construction market, followed by Washington and Clark counties.
Wendy Culverwell covers real estate, retail and hospitality.


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