Sell Your Commercial Property Fast In Portland, OR

Who rents in Portland, OR

Renters occupy 48.0% of Portland's 289,705 occupied housing units, per the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey. The renter share is 46.6% in Multnomah County and 36.7% across Oregon in that same survey. Portland holds 139,059 renter households, or 85.3% of every renter household in Multnomah County.

Portland's population was 641,165 in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey, against 801,477 in Multnomah County. Oregon Health & Science University reported 22,501 employees for fiscal year 2025 and calls itself Portland's largest employer. OHSU also reported 562 staffed beds and 4,337 students for the 2024-25 year.

Intel described its Hillsboro operation as the company's largest site, with more than 22,000 employees, in an October 2023 newsroom release. Nike reports more than 11,000 employees at the Philip H. Knight Campus in Beaverton, on 400 acres. Workers from Hillsboro and Beaverton rent in East Portland and Gresham, so demand tracks regional hiring rather than one employer.

Rents and affordability in Portland

Median gross rent in Portland was $1,655 a month in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Multnomah County's median gross rent was $1,646 and Oregon's was $1,525 in that survey. Median household income in Portland was $90,919, against $88,766 in Multnomah County and $83,011 statewide.

Portland renters paying 30% or more of income on rent total 52.5%, per the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Renters paying 50% or more total 26.9%. Both shares cover the 133,070 Portland renter households for which the Census Bureau reports a rent-to-income ratio.

As of HUD's FY2027 fair market rents, the two-bedroom standard for Multnomah County is $1,878 a month. Multnomah County sits in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA fair market rent area. That area also covers Clackamas, Columbia, Washington, Yamhill, Clark and Skamania counties, so one schedule applies metro-wide.

Portland's FY2027 two-bedroom standard of $1,878 sits above its $1,655 all-unit median gross rent. Voucher-backed tenancies therefore price competitively against market leases here.

Portland's apartment stock and building age

Portland has 102,436 housing units in buildings of five or more units, 33.3% of its 307,719 total units, per the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. That share is 31.8% in Multnomah County and 17.8% across Oregon.

Portland holds 13,734 units in 5-to-9-unit buildings and 16,276 in 10-to-19-unit buildings. Buildings of 20 to 49 units hold 22,034 Portland units, and buildings of 50 or more hold 50,392. Another 24,961 Portland units sit in 2-to-4-unit properties.

Portland's median housing unit was built in 1966, against 1972 in Multnomah County and 1981 in Oregon. Units built before 1980 make up 63.4% of Portland's stock, per the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Units built in 2010 or later number 41,255, or 13.4% of the total.

Portland's vacancy rate was 5.9%, or 18,014 of 307,719 units, in the 2020-2024 American Community Survey. Oregon's rate was 7.5% in the same survey. A 1966 median build year puts roofs, sewer laterals, electrical panels and single-pane glazing into the reserve line buyers price first when owners sell commercial real estate in Portland, OR.

Property taxes on Multnomah County apartment buildings

Multnomah County taxed levy code area 001, which covers Portland and Portland Public Schools, at $27.5984 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value for 2026-2027. Gresham's code area 026 was $20.3625 that year. The lowest east county code areas were near $13.03.

Oregon taxes the lesser of real market value or maximum assessed value, per the Department of Revenue. Values are set as of January 1 each year. Measure 50 caps growth in maximum assessed value at 3% a year. Multnomah County computes assessed value as the lower of last year's maximum assessed value plus 3%, or current real market value.

Multnomah County breaks the 3% limit only for a listed exception event. That list covers new construction or remodeling above $18,700 in a year or $46,200 over five years. It also covers partitioning, rezoning, omitted property and loss of an exemption. A sale is not on the list, and Multnomah County states that values and taxes are tied to the property, not the owner.

On $2 million of taxable assessed value in levy code area 001, the 2026-2027 rate implies about $55,197 a year before compression. Measure 5 compression removed $192,976,159 from Multnomah County's $2,778,593,015 of imposed tax in 2026-2027. ORS 306.815 bars Oregon cities and counties from taxing real property transfers unless the tax was operative on March 31, 1997, and Portland has none. Anyone preparing to sell commercial property in Portland, OR should pull the levy code area from the latest tax statement.

Landlord rules in Portland and Oregon

Oregon capped most 2026 rent increases at 9.5%, as published by the Department of Administrative Services under ORS 90.324. The 2025 cap was 10.0%. ORS 91.225 bars an Oregon city or county from enacting an ordinance that controls rent, so Portland has no rent control of its own.

ORS 90.323 bars any rent increase during a tenancy's first year and allows one increase per 12-month period with 90 days' written notice. Units less than 15 years from their first certificate of occupancy are exempt from the cap. A landlord who exceeds the cap owes three months' rent plus actual damages.

Portland City Code 30.01.085 sets relocation assistance at $2,900 for a studio or SRO and $3,300 for one bedroom. Two-bedroom units draw $4,200, and three bedrooms or more draw $4,500. Those payments attach to any increase of 10% or more in a rolling 12 months, and to a no-cause or qualifying-landlord-reason termination.

Portland also requires 90 days' notice for any increase of 5% or more. Noncompliance exposes an owner to three times the monthly rent plus damages, fees and costs.

ORS 90.300 sets no dollar cap on an Oregon security deposit but requires a written accounting within 31 days of termination. Oregon nonpayment notices run 10 days from the eighth day of the rental period, or 13 days from the fifth. Portland City Code 7.02.890 requires annual Schedule R registration of every rental unit, at $70 per unit for tax year 2025.

Selling commercial property in Portland: what it means for owners

Three figures set the price of a Portland apartment building in 2026. Oregon's rent cap is 9.5%, Portland City Code 30.01.085 tops out at $4,500 per unit in relocation pay, and Portland's median build year is 1966. Owners who want to sell commercial property in Portland, OR should price those three before they price the income.

Skyline Capital Investments buys 5-to-100-unit buildings across Portland, Gresham, Beaverton and Hillsboro, stabilized or badly deferred. If you want to sell multifamily property in Portland, run the numbers through our cap rate calculator, read Portland rent rules every apartment owner should know, and tell us about the building on our seller page.