HFO apartment permit data anchors Portland Business Journal report on multifamily construction [8/03/26]
August 3, 2026
All | HFO Investment Real Estate

HFO apartment permit data anchors Portland Business Journal report on multifamily construction [8/03/26]

Portland Business Journal commercial real estate reporter Sara Edwards used permit data from HFO Investment Real Estate in an Aug. 3 story on the state of apartment construction in Portland.

The numbers show a market moving in two directions at once. Permitting has picked up, with 1,465 units permitted so far in 2026, ahead of the 1,260 units permitted in all of 2025 and closing in on 2024’s total of 1,484. About 60 percent of those permits remain under city review. The rest have been issued.

The longer view is less encouraging. More than 6,400 units were permitted in both 2021 and 2022 before the count fell to 4,680 in 2023.

Deliveries tell the sharper story. Portland has issued 602 certificates of occupancy so far in 2026, down from 2,553 in 2025 and 4,476 in 2024. Permits signal intent. Certificates of occupancy signal actual units available to rent, and that number is falling fast.

HFO’s perspective on the numbers

HFO co-founder Greg Frick told the Business Journal that a full recovery is not close. “We’re a few years away before we see some kind of huge rebound,” he said. He added that stabilization, not a construction wave, is the realistic near-term outcome, and that Portland needs stronger job growth to make development pencil.

HFO’s market report projects rent growth will improve by the end of 2026 and turn positive in 2027 as groundbreakings decline and vacancy tightens. Rents in Portland have been roughly flat for two years, held down by a wave of deliveries and heavy concessions.

For owners, the thinning delivery pipeline is the early signal worth watching. For developers, permitting activity suggests some appetite is returning, though capital costs and review timelines still govern what gets built.

HFO Director of Market Intelligence Aaron Kirk Douglas obtained the underlying data directly from the City of Portland through a public records request and oversaw the analysis and charts that HFO published.

Click here to: Read the full story at the Portland Business Journal (subscriber content).

HFO Investment Real Estate is the largest multifamily-only brokerage in the Pacific Northwest, with 12 brokers focused exclusively on apartment investment sales in Oregon and Washington. Call (503) 241-5541

 

Back to Insights & Updates