After already breaking the record for most lucrative year, the market cools slightly in October.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
After breaking the record for most lucrative year, the apartment sales market in Portland cooled slightly in October.
Still, sales for the year have surpassed the $2 billion threshold.
On average, units have sold this year for $125,800 per unit compared to $112,200 per unit last year. Sizable transactions in October included the $32.6 million sale of the Avalon in Gresham and the $50 million sale of Waterhouse Place in Beaverton.
Earlier this year, Morris and others projected total sales of about $2.1 billion, far and away a record for the metro region. That estimate has since inflated to around $2.3 billion.
(READ MORE: Portland Business Journal)
The soaring value of apartments in Portland has allowed some landlords to skimp on service while raising rent. Willamette Week’s Lisa Dunn wrote about tenants struggling with subpar housing paired with rent increases.
Cristina Palacios, who oversees the Safe Housing Project for the Community Alliance of Tenants, says rent hikes in deteriorating buildings are becoming more common.
“Usually it’s because the landlord chooses to disinvest,” she says, “so they can evict everyone and either sell it or bring in new tenants at a higher price.”
(READ MORE: Willamette Week)
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