August 2020 Rent Survey Results

Posted By: Michael Havlik Central Oregon, Industry News, Mid-Willamette Valley, Portland/SW Washington, SWV News,

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 8th day of the month? The 8th of the month is the customary date for issuing nonpayment notices and is a good measure of the hardships renter households are experiencing. The survey adjusted for vacancy in order to arrive at the true percentage of occupied households impacted. Click on the image above to download a PDF copy of the datasets.
Key findings:
  • On average, 11.1% of Oregon households did not pay their rent by the 8th of the month, which is an improvement on 13.2% reported in the July survey.
  • Statewide, of renter households living in Affordable Tax Credit units, 13.6% were unable to pay rent, compared to 14.0% in July
  • Conventional “Class-C” workforce multifamily housing, which experienced a 13.6% inability to pay rent, however, a much smaller sample size reported this month. (4,794 units in August, compared to 15,395 units in July)
  • Respondents with 10 or fewer units did not report a statistically significant population.
Thank you to every member that took the time to complete the August Rent Survey that created this important data set. Independent owners to large management firms to affordable housing providers together contributed to the data. Particular thanks to Home Forward in Portland, Homes for Good in Eugene, Housing Works in Central Oregon, the Salem Housing Authority and Jackson County Housing Authority for helping ensure participation across Oregon. Multifamily NW also extends an appreciative thank you to the Rental Housing Alliance, Oregon Housing and Community Services, Housing Oregon, Oregon Association of Realtors and NARPM who were major collaborators in this survey.