The Need for Affordable Housing in Portland

The need for affordable housing in the Portland metropolitan area is clear. In the past decade as the region’s economy boomed, housing prices rose dramatically, rapidly outstripping minimal increases in median income. Median house prices more than doubled in the region between 1990 and 1996. Consequently, there have been a large number of renters displaced as their landlords put their homes on the market.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census 32% of all families do not have affordable housing in the Portland Metro Area. Metro estimates that the Portland region will need more than 90,000 units of affordable housing for the very low income in the next fifteen years. At the region’s current rate of production, Portland will not come close to meeting this need. On the contrary, we continue to see significant losses of affordable units in neighborhoods throughout Portland that are undergoing economic revitalization.

75% of all units within Portland Collective Housing are designed to be permanently affordable to those with “very low incomes,” i.e., those making no more than 50% of the area’s median income (AMI). In Portland, this translates into an income of $23,050 for a single person. HUD has set the maximum amount that people should have to pay for their housing costs as 30% of their income. For someone at 50% AMI, this translates into roughly $432 a month for housing costs. Our project at 4034-4038 N Mississippi Ave, with rents averaging $425 a month for five tenants falls below that figure. After creating two more units at the property, the rent will be even lower.