95 Cheap Apartments for rent in Portland, OR
September 2019 Portland Rent Report
Welcome to the September 2019 Portland Rent Report. Portland rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Portland rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
September 2019 Portland Rent Report
Welcome to the September 2019 Portland Rent Report. Portland rents increased over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Portland rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
Portland rents increase sharply over the past month
Portland rents have increased 0.6% over the past month, but have been relatively flat at 0.4% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Portland stand at $1,137 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,342 for a two-bedroom. This is the second straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in June. Portland's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 1.0%, as well as the national average of 1.5%.
Rents rising across cities in the Portland Metro
Throughout the past year, rents have remained steady in the city of Portland, but other cities across the entire metro have seen rents increase. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in the Portland metro, all of them have seen prices rise. Oregon as a whole logged rent growth of 1.0% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
- Looking throughout the metro, Hillsboro is the most expensive of all Portland metro's major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $2,110; of the 10 largest Oregon metro cities that we have data for, all have seen rents rise year-over-year, with Beaverton experiencing the fastest growth (+3.8%).
- Hillsboro, Vancouver, and Eugene have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (3.1%, 1.8%, and 1.5%, respectively).
Portland rents more affordable than many comparable cities nationwide
Rent growth in Portland has been relatively stable over the past year - some other large cities have seen more substantial increases. Portland is still more affordable than most other large cities across the country.
- Portland's median two-bedroom rent of $1,342 is above the national average of $1,191. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.5% over the past year compared to the stagnant growth in Portland.
- While rents in Portland remained moderately stable this year, similar cities saw increases, including Las Vegas (+3.9%), Phoenix (+3.7%), and Austin (+3.2%); note that median 2BR rents in these cities go for $1,187, $1,089, and $1,465 respectively.
- Renters will find more reasonable prices in Portland than most similar cities. For example, San Francisco has a median 2BR rent of $3,133, which is more than twice the price in Portland.
For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.
Methodology - Recent Updates:
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Methodology:
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
About Rent Reports:
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.