U.S. Census: Seattle, Portland see Q1 2021 Vacancy Rates Stable at 5%

Both Seattle and Portland now stand in the top 30% of U.S. metros with the lowest rental vacancy rates.

Of the top 75 metro areas, Portland ranked 28th with a vacancy rate of 5% for Q1 2021, down 0.2% from a year earlier. 

Seattle ranked 23rd among the top U.S. metro areas, with a 4.8% vacancy rate, up 1.1% from Q1 2020.

U.S. Rental Vacancies Tighten

The average national rental vacancy rate for Q1 2021 was 6.8 percent for multifamily dwellings of five or more units — up from 6.6% a year earlier, likely due to COVID-19.

Year-over-year vacancy rates in the Western U.S. increased from 4.4% in Q4 2019 to 4.7% in 2020.

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U.S. Homeownership Rates

After falling to a 26-year low in 2016, the national homeownership rate now stands at 65.6%. 

Homeownership in the West has decreased in the past year from 60.1% to 59.7%.

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