2024 State of Housing in Portland Report Shows Housing Costs Continuing to Outpace Incomes

(PORTLAND, ORE.) –The Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) has released the 2024 State of Housing in Portland Report, an annual publication that provides a comprehensive overview of Portland’s housing market by neighborhood, housing type, and affordability using the latest available data. For the first time, this year’s report also breaks down housing data by City Council District.

PHB’s tenth State of Housing Report shows that housing affordability remains a major challenge for Portlanders, with rents and home sale prices continuing to rise faster than incomes. And while income has increased overall, disparities persist by housing tenure and race/ethnicity. For example, the median homeowner income, at $126,117, was nearly twice the median renter income, at $58,946. The average overall asking rent increased by 3.3% from 2023 to 2024. At the same time, the vacancy rate rose again in 2024 after rising in 2023, reaching a rate of 8.8% on average. And home sales prices have trended downward, decreasing 7% between 2020 and 2024.

Introducing the 2024 Report, Mayor Keith Wilson writes: “The accumulation of consistent data over the course of the last 10 years of these reports is a critically important tool, and as Mayor, I feel very fortunate to be able to reference this body of work as we work to make our vision of Portland a reality.”

This year’s report features a two-page spread for each newly created Council District, breaking down demographics, housing stock and production, and market and affordability. These sections show, for example, that new residential permits in 2024 were by far the highest in District 2 with 894 new permits; that the median home sale price in District 4 is substantially higher than the other districts at $625,000; and that the only household profile able to afford to purchase a home in any district is a couple with family (i.e. a dual-income household).

The 2024 Report also includes a special interest section on the City’s Homeownership Development Incentives programs, which provide tax and System Development Charge (SDC) exemptions to increase the boost affordable homeownership opportunities. The report shows that 1,091 households have been served through these programs since 2018, with an average savings of $3,500 per year for tax exemption recipients and a $30,000 average savings per project for SDC exemption recipients. 81% of homebuyers through these programs bought their first homes.

Elsewhere, a section on strategic initiatives shows that PHB has continued to make progress in producing new affordable homes with Portland Housing Bond and Metro Housing Bond funds, as well as the Inclusionary Housing Program.

In terms of affordability disparities, the report shows that the average Black household could afford to rent a 2-bedroom unit in only one neighborhood analysis area – 122^nd-Division. The average 3-person low-income household earning 60% of Area Median Income ($63,720) or less could only afford to rent a 2-bedroom unit in 11 out of 23 neighborhood areas. Data for the report is sourced from the US Census Bureau, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the real estate company CoStar’s market survey data portal, and other sources.

Read more in the full 2024 State of Housing in Portland Report.