Recent reporting has uncovered a troubling disconnect in Portland’s housing landscape — even as tens of thousands of people struggle with housing insecurity, a substantial share of the city’s affordable units remain empty. Here’s what the data shows:
A study from the real-estate analytics firm CoStar found that approximately 1,863 of Portland’s 25,409 affordable apartments — about 7.4 % — are currently vacant.
That vacancy rate represents a real shift: a decade ago, vacancy in subsidized housing was substantially lower. In recent years, as market rents have cooled and rental pressure eased, affordable units have lost one of their key competitive advantages.
For one of the largest local providers, Home Forward, the vacancy rate is even higher: recent internal data show the agency managing 6,847 affordable units has hundreds — in some buildings, nearly half — sitting empty.
Meanwhile, demand remains high: thousands remain unhoused or live on waitlists, shelters are strained, and new affordable developments continue to be announced.
What’s Behind the Discrepancy
How can we have empty subsidized apartments when so many need housing? According to local housing providers and public-housing officials, several factors are at play:
Rent parity with market units: Many of the subsidized apartments — especially those priced at 50–60% of area median income — are now priced similarly to market-rate units. That removes the incentive for many potential tenants to go through the extra hoops (income verification, additional paperwork) associated with subsidized housing.
Preference for flexibility and fewer bureaucratic burdens: For renters, market-rate options may feel more attractive if affordability is similar but without the constraints tied to subsidized housing (income reporting, recertification, regulations, etc.).
Mismatch between what’s built and what’s needed: Experts note that the greatest shortage is in deeply affordable housing — for people at 0–30% of AMI. Subsidized units at 50–60% AMI, while “affordable” in name, may still be out of reach for the lowest-income residents and thus remain under-utilized.
Operational and structural challenges: Some buildings are newer and still leasing up; others recently underwent major repairs (for example due to flooding), which delayed occupancy.
Thus, the problem is not solely—or even primarily—a “lack of housing supply”; rather, it’s a complex set of economic, structural, and policy-design challenges.
What This Means for Portland and Investors
For a city grappling with an ongoing homelessness crisis, these vacancy statistics underscore inefficiencies in how affordable housing is defined and implemented – and change is needed.
Empty subsidized units while many remain unhoused suggests a misalignment between supply and access — not enough deeply affordable units, and subsidized units that are “affordable on paper” but not accessible in practice.
The high vacancy raises questions about the return on public investment in subsidized housing: when units go unused, taxpayer dollars are tied up without delivering housing to those in need.
At the same time, providers such as Home Forward face financial strain: in light of rising maintenance costs and funding shortfalls, underutilization further threatens the sustainability of affordable-housing stock.
Why NWV Group Cares
As a housing provider, we believe housing is the foundation of stable, healthy, thriving communities. The paradox of empty affordable apartments living side-by-side with people experiencing homelessness does more than reflect policy inefficiency; it erodes public trust, wastes resources, and fails many in our community.
We look forward to improvements on this situation in 2026 and urge our local leaders to enact change – as change is clearly needed.
We also look forward to expanding our footprint in affordable housing, to add to the Veteran’s Supportive Housing and Inclusionary Housing properties that we have already developed and manage in the hopes of enacting our own change as well.
Additional reading on this topic:
NWV Group – Manage. Build. Invest. Leading integrated real estate and property management services across the Portland metro area.
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