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Portland’s Affordable Housing Vacancies Surge to 10-Year High, City Struggles to Move People In News By Diane Megaw On Dec 27, 2025 Affordable housing units - Portland, Oregon | Courtesy: SERA Architects The number of vacant affordable units in Portland has reached a 10-year high as developers aim to get homeless people , particularly older people, into safe and stable living arrangements. More Portland Affordable Housing Units Now Available Nearly 1,900 vacant affordable housing units are now available in Portland after a new permanent affordable housing complex opened up in downtown Portland on Tuesday- the Julia West , a 12-story building with 89 units. Tidings Data Snapshot Julia West House / quick project facts 89 Permanent Supportive Housing homes for seniors exiting homelessness 12 Stories / mass timber tower in Downtown Portland 20 Units set aside for people in recovery from substance use disorders $60.5M Estimated development cost for the project 888 Affordable homes PHB says it supported opening in Portland in 2025 Source: Portland Housing Bureau Julia West House project page and PHB news update / KPTV reporting on the opening Dailytidings.com Twenty units will be set aside specifically for people who are in recovery from substance use disorders. In 2022, the vacancy rate at affordable housing complexes was 4%, excluding affordable units in market-rate buildings, but this year it has nearly doubled to 7.4%. While vacancies are organic due to turnover, the 7.4% rate is a historical high. The developers want to bring people off the street, from a shelter, or from a temporary situation into a safe, stable living situation with on-site case managers and other resources. Tidings Data Snapshot 2025 Tri County homelessness by county Multnomah County / 10,526 people (87.5%) Washington County / 940 people (7.8%) Clackamas County / 568 people (4.7%) Total tri county / 12,034 people / Jan 22, 2025 Source: 2025 Tri County Point in Time Count summary report Dailytidings.com While it’s also sometimes easier to get into a market-rate apartment that doesn’t need an annual proof of income or other affordability requirements, many new units have compliance steps for the income verification and paperwork associated with affordable housing. A CoStar study, which manages Apartments.com and Homes.com, indicates that there are 25,409 affordable housing units in Portland, but nearly 1,900 are vacant. The city is working on solutions to clear the bottleneck preventing people from accessing these affordable units. Metric Latest figure reported Why it matters Citywide affordable units 25,409 Scale of regulated stock tracked in the CoStar report Citywide vacant affordable units 1,863 Roughly a 10 year high for Portland affordable vacancies Affordable vacancy rate 7.4% Nearly double the 2022 level Affordable vacancy rate in 2022 4% Shows how quickly vacancies rose in a short period Home Forward affordable units 6,847 Largest single operator in the citys affordable system Home Forward vacant units 956 About half of the citywide affordable vacancies Home Forward vacancy rate 14% Much higher than the citywide affordable average Multnomah County Portland Share Twitter Facebook ReddIt WhatsApp Pinterest Email