Home vacancies in Portland metro remain low
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There aren't a lot of empty homes in the Portland metro area.
- Home vacancies here have reached near all-time lows since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest census data.
Why it matters: The percentage of vacant homes is one way to gauge the tightness of the housing market, Axios' Matt Phillips writes.
- And with housing production basically flatlining, Portland's market is extremely tight.
By the numbers: Portland homeowner vacancies in the last two quarters of 2023 reached 1%.
- In the first quarter of 2021, however, vacancies were at just 0.2%, the lowest on record since 2005.
Zoom in: Gov. Tina Kotek's $500 million housing proposal was slashed to $350 million by legislators last week — meaning there may be less money for shovel-ready projects, grants for developers, and office-to-apartment conversions aimed at addressing the state's affordable housing crisis.
Yes, but: A legislative analysis in 2022 found Oregon needs to build 555,000 more housing units to meet growing demand in the next two decades.