U.S. Census: Year-Over-Year Rental Vacancy Rates in Greater Portland Fall as Seattle Metro Vacancies Increase

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that third quarter 2018 rental vacancy rate for the Portland/Vancouver/Hillsboro metro area was 4.5%, a decrease of 1.7% from a year earlier.

Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue's metro area vacancy rate was listed at 5.5%, up from 3.6% a year earlier.

Average National Rental Vacancy Rate

The average national rental vacancy rate for Q3 2018 was 7.1 percent for multifamily dwellings of five or more units -- 0.4% lower than one year earlier, despite ongoing delivery of multifamily units throughout the national market.

Year-over-year vacancy rates in the Western U.S. decreased, from 5.8% to 5.1%.

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U.S. Homeownership Rate Increases

After falling to a 26-year low in 2016, homeownership rate remained flat from the prior quarter. The current homeownership rate in the West increased from 59.7% to 60.2%.

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