Apartment rent in Oregon is still growing, but now more slowly

(JANUARY 26, 2020) Renting an apartment in Oregon (especially Portland) is not cheap. Although apartment rents in Oregon are lower than other places in the country, the cost is still rising. It is just rising more slowly than before.

According to an apartment rental website, rents in Portland have increased 3.3% compared to last year. The largest increase was in Tualatin (6.8%), while the smallest increase was in Happy Valley (0.9%). The data show that Lake Oswego is the most expensive place to live in Oregon and Keizer is the cheapest.

Some reports say that rents in Portland are now increasing more slowly. They say that is because there are many new apartments. The average price of a one-bedroom apartment in Portland was $1,436 in 2019.

"It's simple economics. Increased supply is doing a better job of meeting demand," says ABODO, a rental market analysis company. "Last year, apartment construction reached a 30-year high, with much of the growth concentrated in major cities such as Dallas, Houston and New York, but also expanding into smaller, extremely popular cities like Denver, Portland and Austin. We anticipate that the rent growth might begin to slow in cities like Portland because of the huge boom in multifamily construction and luxury developments coming to market."