Portland Apartment Pipeline Plunges

 Multifamily construction fell 55% during COVID to the lowest point in a decade. CoStar reported just 4,800 apartments under construction across the four-county metro area, down from 12,000 as recently as the beginning of 2020. 

Mike Wilkerson of ECONorthwest said that he believes there is a stabilization now and with rents rising sharply and low vacancy rates, there is still plenty of  money to be made in Portland which will hopefully lead to “add between 4,000 and 5,000 units on an annual basis.”

And while Wilkerson characterized that as good news, Josh Lehner, an economist for the State of Oregon, recently reported to the legislature that Oregon needs 111,000 housing units, including 54,000 units needed for families earning less than $40,000 per year.