Portland Metro 10th Lowest In U.S. Apartment Vacancies

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the Portland/Vancouver /Beaverton vacancy rate fell from 4.0 percent in the first quarter of 2014 to 3.3 percent in the second quarter.

The Portland metro area had the 10th lowest vacancy rate among the top 75 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ranked #14 with at 4.4 percent, up 0.9 percent from the prior quarter.




MSA's with the lowest vacancy rates:

• Worcester, MA - 1.5%
• Springfield, MA - 1.7%
• Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA – 2.2%
• Louisville, KY-IN - 2.5%
• Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY - 2.7% (Tie)
• Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI - 2.7% (Tie)
• Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ - 2.9%
• Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT - 3.0%
• San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA – 3.1%
• Bakersfield, CA - 3.2%
• Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA - 3.3%
  ...
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA – 4.4% (Tied for #14 with Honolulu, NYC)

MSA's with the five highest vacancy rates:

• Syracuse, NY - 15.7%
• Toledo, OH - 15.1%
• Akron, OH - 15.1%
• Richmond, VA - 13.9%
• Orlando, FL - 13.5%

The average national rental vacancy rate for Q2 2014 was 7.5% and was 0.7% lower than a year earlier. The rental vacancy rate has been fallen consistently since 2009. It is hovering around the lowest level since the first quarter of 2001. The U.S. high water mark for apartment vacancies was 11.1% in 2009.

Homeownership rates fell to 64.7%, the lowest level in 20 years.

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