U.S. Census: Portland Posts Nation’s Sixth Lowest Apartment Vacancy Rate
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that the first quarter 2018 rental vacancy rate
for the Portland-Vancouver- Hillsboro metro area was 3.6% percent — an increase of 1% over the prior quarter and a 0.3% decrease from one year
earlier.
The Spring 2018 Multifamily NW Apartment report released earlier this month surveyed nearly 58,000 units and reported a regional vacancy rate of 4.85%.
Seattle’s Vacancy Rate – 4.6%
The Census Bureau
estimated Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue’s vacancy rate jumped 2.7% from a year earlier to 4.6%.
Metros with the lowest rental vacancies for Q1 2018 were:
- Fresno, CA (1.6%)
- Akron, OH (2.3%)
- Syracuse, NY (2.4%)
- Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN (3.4%)
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (3.5%)
- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA (3.6%)
- Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI (3.9%)
- Tucson, AZ (3.9%)
- Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC (4.0%)
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN (4.0%)
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (4.0%)
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA (4.0%)
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA (4.2%)
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA (4.3%)
- Worcester, MA (4.4%)
- Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (4.6%)
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (4.6%)
Average National Rental Vacancy Rate
The
average national rental vacancy rate for Q1 2018 was 7.0 percent for
multifamily dwellings of five or more units — unchanged from one year
earlier, despite ongoing delivery of multifamily units throughout the
national market.
Year-over-year vacancy rates in the western U.S. increased slightly, from 4.7% to 5.2% and was down from 5.6% in the 4th quarter of 2017.
 |
| Click to Enlarge |
U.S. Homeownership Rate Increases
After
falling to a 26-year low in 2016, homeownership rates remain flat. The current
homeownership rate in the West has increased by a statistically significant amount over the past 12 months–from
59% to 59.7%.
 |
| Click to Enlarge |