Data from the Census reveals Portland area homebuilders’ focus.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Data from the Census Bureau reveals Portland area homebuilders’ focus: Rental properties.
That’s what almost all of the 47,500-plus units were since the recession.
“Well, no wonder it’s so hard to find houses to sell,” said Leslie Jones, principal broker with Re/Max Equity Group. “Our inventory is so low because so many things are being held as rentals instead.”
The data, made public late Wednesday, reflects the latest statistics from the American Community Survey and allows for the first-ever snapshot comparing the five-year periods between 2005 to 2009 and 2010 to 2014.
Predictably, Multnomah County had the highest number of new rental units. There were an average of 125,330 renter-occupied units in the county each year between 2005 and 2009, the survey found. And there were nearly 143,000 rentals each year between 2010 and 2014 – an increase of 14 percent. Rental units in Washington and Clackamas counties increased at similar rates.
(READ MORE: OregonLive.com)
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