January 2021 Rent Survey

Multifamily NW collaborated with a broad group of housing professionals (management companies, private managers, housing authorities, nonprofits, state agencies) to collect surveys of conventional and affordable rental housing to establish the ongoing impact on rent payment of the COVID -19 crisis.

The survey asked: How many households were unable to pay full rent by the 15th day of the month? The survey adjusted for vacancy in to arrive at the true percentage of occupied households impacted.

The numbers are presented to show the average numbers for 2020 (seven months, May through November) against 2021 by month.

Key findings:

• On average, 11.7% of Oregon households did not pay their rent by the 15th of the month, which is an improvement on 13.0 % average for 2020.
• Statewide, of renter households living in Affordable Tax Credit units, 9.2% were unable to pay rent, compared to the average of 14.3% for 2020. Several rental assistance options were targeted toward affordable housing in the 4tdh quarter of 2020, and this dramatic improvement reflects those funds flowing to the properties. Overall vacancy within the 18,028 affordable units reporting was only 2.1%, demonstrating the exceptional demand for this type of unit.
• Conventional “Class-C” workforce multifamily housing experienced a 16.2% inability to pay rent, and showed virtually no improvement from the 16.8% average from 2020. There is cause for concern that rental assistance dollars are not reaching tenants in this asset class, and their need exceeds those of households living in Affordable Tax Credits, which offer more resources, case management, and programs.
• Responses from owners with 9 or fewer units provided data on 483 units across Oregon. They showed 18.1% inability to pay, along with 7.2% vacancy.   The high numbers in both categories may reflect underreporting of fully occupied and paying units.
• Class A market rate apartments in Portland now reflect a 10.3% vacancy rate on top of a 9.6% inability to pay. Inability to pay in this asset type averaged just 7.3% in 2020.

The January 2021 Rent Survey represented 341 surveys collected, and over 90,000 market rate and Tax Credit rental units in Oregon.

Thank you to every member and participant that took the time to complete the monthly Rent Surveys that created these important data sets.