Portland rents fall, but costs stay high
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The Portland metro area saw the biggest drop in median rent prices year-over-year compared to other West Coast regions, according to a recent report from Apartment List.
Why it matters: Housing is still unaffordable for many, though. While the median U.S. rent for new leases is down 1.5% from a year ago, it's still roughly 20% above pre-pandemic levels, at $1,400 a month.
- Plus: A new Harvard report finds a record number of renters are "cost-burdened," spending more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
Zoom in: The median rent price for new leases dropped 1.8% to roughly $1,600 across the Portland metro area — including Hillsboro and Vancouver, Washington — between this February and a year earlier.
- That's the 17th sharpest decline among more than 50 of the nation's biggest metro areas.
Zoom out: Only San Diego and Los Angeles metros saw similar modest dips in rent, at 1% and 1.2%, respectively. Other West Coast cities saw big increases: Nearly 5% in San Francisco and 4.6% in San Jose.
The other side: Rental markets are getting tighter in the Midwest, Northeast and parts of the Mountain West.
Between the lines: High building costs and a glut of supply have made developers cautious about starting new projects — something we're seeing play out in Portland, too.
- When new units do arrive, they're mostly luxury apartments.
Meanwhile, more people are renting — partly because homebuying remains out of reach — keeping rents from falling much further nationwide.
What we're watching: Rents could climb soon as more people move in summer.