Oregon multifamily permits hit 12-year low
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Oregon issued only 4,800 new multifamily housing unit permits in 2024 — the lowest total in more than a decade, according to a new Oregon Journalism Project report using federal data.
Why it matters: The state needs tens of thousands of new homes to address its ongoing crisis, and multifamily housing — which includes duplexes, townhomes and large apartments complexes — is widely seen as an effective way to add supply fast, even with economic and land-use constraints.
By the numbers: Gov. Tina Kotek set an ambitious goal of building 36,000 housing units a year from when she took office in 2023 — a number the state has continually failed to meet.
- In the last decade, permitting for multifamily housing hit a high in 2019, when 10,500 permits were issued.
- Preliminary numbers for 2025 show equally dismal totals as the year before, with approximately 4,400 permits issued as of October 2025.
The bottom line: The state's housing crisis will become more acute if it doesn't build up to 500,000 more homes over the next 20 years, per a December report from the Department of Administrative Services.
- Former state economist Mark McMullen told OJP that cautious lending from banks and higher interest rates are contributing to the squeeze.
- Plus: Out-of-state financiers often look at a city's economic and census growth data before making a decision to lend — two factors that Oregon has working against it now.