U.S. Census: Year-Over-Year Portland and Seattle Vacancies Fall

The U.S. Census Bureau reported today that second quarter 2018 rental vacancy rate for the Portland/Vancouver/Hillsboro metro area was 4.8%, a 1.2% increase from the first quarter but a decrease of 1.9% from a year earlier.

Seattle/Tacoma/Belevue's metro area vacancy rate was listed at 4.1%, down from 4.7% a year earlier.

Average National Rental Vacancy Rate
The average national rental vacancy rate for Q2 2018 was 6.8 percent for multifamily dwellings of five or more units -- 0.5% 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 6.0.7% to 5.1%.

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U.S. Homeownership Rate Increases
After falling to a 26-year low in 2016, homeownership rates nationally have begun to increase. The current homeownership rate in the West were flat at 59.7%.

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