Census Reports: Portland Metro Q3 Vacancy Rate Falls Yet Again to 3.1%

The U.S. Census Bureau reported this week that Portland’s vacancy rate fell from 3.5 percent to 3.1 percent in the third quarter of 2011, maintaining its position as the nation’s fourth lowest vacancy rate among the top 75 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA had a Q3 2011 vacancy estimate of 6.8 percent, down from 7.5 percent the prior quarter and the nation’s 17th lowest.

The nation’s 10 lowest vacancy rates were:

• Springfield, MA 2.6
• Worcester, MA 2.8
• Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA 3.0
• Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA 3.1
• El Paso, TX 3.3
• Bakersfield, CA 3.7
• Alburquerque, NM 4.3
• Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 4.5
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 4.6
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 5.0

The MSA’s with the five highest vacancy rates were as follows:

• Greensboro-High Point, NC 16.3
• Orlando, FL 16.6
• Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, 17.0
• Tucson, AZ 17.0
• Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX 17.1

Click here to read the full report online.