Rental Housing Journal Valley
December 2016
2. Apartment Rents Weakning 3. Residential Landlord Tenant Update 2016 5. Dear Maintenance Men – Water and Wax Removal
EUGENE · SALEM ·ALBANY · CORVALLIS WWW.RENTALHOUSINGJOURNAL.COM • PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHING, INC
2.4 – 5.4% Vacancy Rates
Trump Policies Could Affect New Housing Costs as New Buyers Enter the Market in 2017
Has the Willamette Valley Rental Market Flattened Out?
T
he rental market in the Willamette Valley has been on one heck of a ride over the last few years. The Apartment Report recently came out and revealed vacancy rates as low as 2.4% in Gresham and as high as 5.4% in Northwest Portland, with Salem and Eugene coming in at 2.9% (historically, vacancy rates of 6-7% have been considered “normal”). In the Portland metro market specifically, we are seeing an average overall vacancy rate of 3.71% and rental rates of $1.47 per square foot per month. In the Salem market those figures are at 2.9% and $1.14; the Eugene market is at 2.94% and $1.16. However, these figures are very close to what they were at the beginning of 2016, so we are seeing signs that the rental market has officially started to level off. Within my company (www.IRCEnterprises.com), vacancy rates have run
continued on page 7
I
n 2017, recent trends will reverse course as the housing market’s economic recovery enters a new stage. Renting will become more affordable, more Americans will drive to work, and the homeownership rate will bounce back from historical lows. Millennials will play a significant role in increasing the homeownership rate. Nearly half of all buyers in 2016 were first-time buyers, and millennials made up over half of this group of buyers. Here is Zillow’s look ahead at the 2017 housing market:
Zillow’s 2017 Predictions
1. Cities will focus on denser development of smaller homes close to public transit and urban centers. 2. More millennials will become homeowners, driving up the homeownership rate. Millennials are also more racially diverse, so more homeowners will be people of color, reflecting the changing demographics of the United States. continued on page 4
Professional Publishing Inc., PO Box 6244 Beaverton, OR 97007
Landlords and Property Managers Bullied and Harassed Over Rent Increases
By John Triplett, Rental Housing Journal
A
Portland landlord says he and his property managers have been bullied and intimidated over rent increases after he purchased a small apartment building and had to raise existing rents to afford his new mortgage payments. He said demonstrators have picketed his personal residence. The have placed notices on the doors of neighbors, camped overnight on his lawn, defecated on his lawn and marched into his property managers’ offices scaring the staff, according to his spokesman, John McIsaac. The landlord, Landon Marsh, raised rents “only to the lower end of current market rates in Portland,” said McIsaac in a recent interview. McIsaac said the rent increases came after Marsh purchased the small apartment PRSRT STD US Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit #5460
complex, did substantial work to improve the condition of the building and raised rents to cover his costs and mortgage. Unfortunately the rent for one tenant went up by 40 percent and the tenant complained to the Portland Tenants United group.
Telling the landlords’ side of the story
McIsaac said he is speaking out because many in the landlord and property management industry do not feel their side of the story has been told, and that more attention has been focused on what the activists’ demonstrations, and what the tenants say. “I represent the landlords and property managers who do not want to have exorbitantly high rents, we want more housing stock,” McIsaac said. continued on page 4
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