U.S. Census Bureau Pegs Portland Metro Rental Vacancies at 4.5% – Nation’s 4th Lowest

The U.S. Census Bureau has reported 2nd quarter 2010 vacancy rate estimates for the top 75 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).

The Portland/ Vancouver/ Beaverton area ranks 4th in the nation for vacancies at 4.5%. Portland’s Q1 2010 vacancy rate was estimated at 3.8% – the new estimate shows a drop of 0.7% over the past 3 months. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA had a Q1 2010 vacancy estimate of 8.0 and a Q2 vacancy estimate of 6.9%, the nation’s 10th lowest.

The Census Bureau reports the nation’s lowest vacancy rates as follows:

• Ex Paso, TX – 2.1%
• Salt Lake City, UT – 3.8%
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA; Springfield, MA – 4.0% (2-way tie)
• Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA – 4.5%
• Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI – 5.1%
• San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA – 5.6%
• Alburquerque, NM – 5.7%
• Bakersfield, CA; Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH – 5.9% (2-way tie)
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA – 6.5%

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

• Orlando, FL – 20.6%
• Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX – 17.4%
• Orlando, FL – 18.2%
• Jacksonville, FL – 18.6%
• Memphis, TN-AR-MS – 21.2%
• Akron, OH – 21.9%

Read the full report online.