105 Studio Apartments for rent in Portland, OR
January 2020 Portland Rent Report
Welcome to the January 2020 Portland Rent Report. Portland rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Portland rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
January 2020 Portland Rent Report
Welcome to the January 2020 Portland Rent Report. Portland rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Portland rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the metro, state, and nation.
Portland rents declined significantly over the past month
Portland rents have declined 0.5% 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 $1,122 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,324 for a two-bedroom. This is the third straight month that the city has seen rent decreases after an increase in September. Portland's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 1.5%, as well as the national average of 1.4%.
Rents rising across the Portland Metro
While rents have remained steady in the city of Portland throughout the past year, cities across the metro have seen a different trend. Rents have risen in 9 of of the largest 10 cities in the Portland metro for which we have data. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the metro.
- Beaverton has seen the fastest rent growth in the metro, with a year-over-year increase of 3.0%. The median two-bedroom there costs $1,824, while one-bedrooms go for $1,546.
- Over the past month, Canby has seen the biggest rent drop in the metro, with a decline of 2.6%. Median two-bedrooms there cost $1,725, while one-bedrooms go for $1,462.
- Portland proper has the least expensive rents in the Portland metro, with a two-bedroom median of $1,324; rents decreased 0.5% over the past month but remained flat year-over-year.
- Hillsboro has the most expensive rents of the largest cities in the Portland metro, with a two-bedroom median of $2,055; rents fell 1.0% over the past month but rose 2.9% over the past year.
Portland rents more affordable than many other large 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 comparable cities across the country.
- Oregon as a whole has logged 1.5% year-over-year growth, while rent trends across other cities throughout the state have varied. For example, rents have grown by 1.0% in Eugene whereas rents have fallen 0.8% in Salem.
- Portland's median two-bedroom rent of $1,324 is above the national average of $1,192. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.4% 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 Phoenix (+3.8%), Las Vegas (+3.2%), and Austin (+3.1%); note that median 2BR rents in these cities go for $1,099, $1,193, and $1,471 respectively.
- Renters will find more reasonable prices in Portland than most similar cities. For example, San Francisco has a median 2BR rent of $3,088, 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.