PORTLAND, Ore. – Thanks to the latest Property Management Portland Oregon News and recent statistics from Jay Persons / MPF Research we know that renter renewals and retention is on the increase in Portland and across the United States.
Renter retention has been increasing for 20 months straight and doesn’t show any sign of stopping but the big question is why are renters staying put, paying their rent without looking elsewhere for rentals.
In a recent interview Jay Parsons had this to say about renter retention in 2015: “Renters are increasingly choosing to stay put and renew their leases in spite of rapidly rising rents and historically large levels of new supply, which logic would suggest would be driving down retention. And the fact that retention is still so strong speaks to the depth of demand for apartments and to the absence of any sort of affordability crisis in conventional, investment-grade apartments.”
Average Rent for Portland Oregon
As of October / November 2015 the average rent for Portland Oregon ranges from $1,095 for a 2 bedroom / 1 bathroom home in Portland to $4,600 for a 4 bedroom home.
Recent reports on Oregonlive.com have shown that rents are actually increasing more in towns just outside of Portland like: Beaverton, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Happy Valley and Gresham are actually increasing at a faster rate than they are in Portland alone but regardless of where renters are searching for properties there’s no denying that demand has remained high over the last 12 months.
Will the demand for rental properties decrease in Portland Oregon? The answer to this depends on who you ask but most groups like Millennials and Generation Y are preferring to rent instead of buy in 2015 and that’s in spite of the recent real estate crisis that saw thousands of people loose equity in their homes.
What to Expect In the Coming Months
If you plan on buying new rental properties, or get involved with property management Portland Oregon, in the coming months now is a great time to buy more properties for your portfolio thanks to low mortgage interest rates which don’t show any sign of increasing in 2015 after recent economic instability in China.
Over the last year many public companies have been investing in Real Estate across Portland including American Homes 4 Rent who now owns more than 200 homes in the Portland area.
It’s no surprise that Wall Street is heavily investing in rental properties now when you consider how unstable stocks have been, Real Estate is one of the best choices for any investor who wants a great return on their investment.
“Locally, American Homes 4 Rent was among 26 companies and individual investors that purchased more than 10 homes each for cash in Multnomah County between 2006 to 2014, according to an Investigate West analysis. That analysis showed those cash buyers were competing directly with traditionally financed homeowners for real estate, a phenomenon that contributed to rising costs.” – Source invw.org
51.1% of the Nations Renters Have Leases Set To Expire
As of today over 50% of the nation’s renters have leases that are set to expire and this also means we can expect to see the largest rent increase in the last 10 years since over 50% of renters across the United States have renewed their leases in the last 20 months.
Where Are the Nation’s Fastest Growing Rental Markets?
As of October 2015 the nation’s hottest rental markets are in the Bay Area:
San Francisco – The average one bedroom apartment in SF is renting for $2,965 per month while a two bedroom apartment is renting for $3,850 per month.
Oakland – This Bay Area city has seen the biggest rent increase this year of 20% because San Francisco was already super expensive to begin with and also because of the fact that people who were searching for homes in San Francisco turned to Oakland for affordable properties.
The medium rent in Oakland is currently $1,980 per month for a one bedroom apartment while the runner up for the next most expensive city in the Bay Area is San Jose where the medium rent for a one bedroom apartment is currently $2,230 per month, a rent increase of 14.9 percent in the last year.
Other expensive Bay Area cities include:
Bernal Heights
Potrero Hill
Russian Hill
Financial District
Castro-Upper Market
Haight-Ashbury
North Beach
Pacific Heights
Noe Valley
Glen Park
Mission
Presidio Heights
Marina
Inner Richmond
Western Addition
West Of Twin Peaks
South of Market
Twin Peaks
Nob Hill
Seacliff
The hot Bay Area rental market could be one of the reasons why we are seeing more people move to Portland in the last year and a passive-aggressive “no Californian’s” stickers popping up around Portland on home for sale signs.
How Californian are’s supposedly causing the problem? With homes selling for double and even triple the value of most homes in Portland Oregon it’s easy for someone to come to Portland or any other town across Oregon and pay cash for a home here.
Example:
In a recent interview on marketwatch.com, Chris Hawkins, owner of a commercial printing company in the Bay Area recently relocated from Marin County and was able to pay $550,000 cash for his new 5,000 sq. ft. Eugene Oregon home.
Sadly, in the Bay Area $550,000 won’t buy much of a house these days, other than the down payment on a house and with home prices in San Francisco and other Bay Area cities in the $1 million range any home buyer there will still have to pay their monthly $1 million dollar mortgage.
Here in Portland home values have risen close to 10 percent in the last year and the median home price is now $295,600.
What’s even more shocking is that many industry analysts predict home prices in Portland to increase by another 4.7% next year and the median rent in Portland is expected to raise to $1,650 as well and this will be high than the median rent in Oregon which is currently $1,500.
Rental Inventory Hits 20 Year Low
If you’ve been thinking about getting into the rental market by adding some property to your portfolio there’s no better sign that it’s the right time to buy a rental property then right now because of the following combination of: low rental inventory and high demand for rental properties.
Rent.com recently released their annual survey which surveyed over 500 property managers across the United States and found that most property managers are not doing anything different to fill vacancies than they did last year thanks in large part to the fact that we have a national vacancy rate of just 6.8%, the lowest it’s been since the mid 1980’s.
Another important reason to consider property management Portland Oregon, and to add rental property to your portfolio right now is the fact that mortgage interest rates are still historically low and are currently hovering near 4% as they have all year long.
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen recently indicated that she has no indication of raising interest rates this year especially after the recent dip in the China stock market so if you’ve been wondering when it the right time to buy a rental property now is the perfect opportunity to make your move.
Multifamily supply will continue to enter the market at elevated levels, reaching the highest level of completions since the 1980’s. (Source multifamilybiz.com)
More Property Owners Are Offering Fewer Concessions
There’s no denying that we’re seeing high demand for rental properties in Portland and across the United States right now.
One of the major consequences of this demand is that landlords in Portland plus other cities nationwide are offering fewer concessions to renters and since the vacancy rate for rentals has fallen steadily fewer renters are seeing room to negotiate.
For property owners or companies who specialize in property management in Portland Oregon like we do this is another huge win because this means that you can establish long term, stable cash flow buy right now because renters are less inclined to switch rentals after their leases expire than in any other time in history.
Become an Investor, Not a Landlord
One of the biggest fears new property owners have is that they are going to have to become “landlords” and not just investors.
Thanks to our Portland Oregon Property Management service you CAN be just an investor and not a landlord because we will handle all of the property management for your rental property so you don’t have to.
With Property Management Systems and our property management service you can focus on growing your portfolio of rental properties in the Portland area while we manage the day-to-day responsibilities of your rental property.
“Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual’s cash flow and wealth.”
Robert Kiyosaki
Get Property Management Portland Oregon
To view rental properties in Portland, or to speak with us about our Property Management Portland Oregon services, contact Property Management Systems today by calling us at (503) 515-3170 or click here to connect with us online.
