Portland rents have increased 0.3% over the past month, but have been relatively flat at 0.1% in comparison to the same time last year, according to the January report from Apartment List.
Currently, median rents in Portland stand at $1,120 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,320 for a two-bedroom.
Portland’s year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of -1.1%, but trails the national average of 1.0%.
Rents rising across cities in the Portland Metro
Throughout the past year, rents have remained steady in the city of Portland, but other cities across the entire metro have seen rents increase.
Of the largest 10 cities with data in the Portland metro, 9 of them have seen prices rise.
Oregon as a whole logged rent growth of -1.1% over the past year. Here’s a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
- Looking throughout the metro, Hillsboro is the most expensive of all Portland metro’s major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $2,010; of the 10 largest cities in the metro that we have data for, Bend, where a two-bedroom goes for $980, is the only major city to see rents fall year-over-year (-0.2%).
- Springfield, Vancouver, and Beaverton have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (2.4%, 2.0%, and 1.9%, respectively).
Portland rents more affordable than many comparable cities nationwide
Rent growth in Portland has been relatively stable over the past year – some other large cities have seen more substantial increases. Portland is still more affordable than most similar cities across the country.
- Portland’s median two-bedroom rent of $1,320 is above the national average of $1,170. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.0% over the past year compared to the stagnant growth in Portland.
- While rents in Portland remained moderately stable this year, similar cities saw increases, including Las Vegas (+3.7%), Phoenix (+3.6%), and Austin (+3.3%); note that median 2BR rents in these cities go for $1,160, $1,060, and $1,420 respectively.
- Renters will find more reasonable prices in Portland than most other large cities. For example, San Francisco has a median 2BR rent of $3,090, which is more than twice the price in Portland.
Methodology
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew towards luxury apartments, introducing sample bias. In order to address these limitations and provide the most accurate rent estimates available, we now start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate forward based on our own rental listing data, using a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, which compares only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Apartment List
Apartment List is a growing online apartment rental marketplace on a mission to make finding a home an easy and delightful process.
