Is the Portland area’s regional housing crisis being made better or worse by state and local land use regulations? Gerald Mildner, Ph.D, an associate professor of real estate and finance at Portland State University, and the academic director of the University’s Center for Real Estate, would say, “worse.” According to Dr. Mildner in his paper … Continue Reading
Thanks to our friends at HFO Investment Real Estate for this important notice regarding new developments from the Portland Housing Bureau regarding the Affordable Housing Bond. The Portland Housing Bureau released a report written by the Affordable Housing Bond Stakeholder Advisory Group, which lays out a plan for how the money should be spent. The affordable housing … Continue Reading
With Portland weathering one of its top-ten snowstorms of all time earlier this month, one question that landlords and prospective tenants alike are asking is how to plan for snow and ice storms in their leases. … Continue Reading
The City of Portland has been struggling for several years to find a permanent location for the Right 2 Dream Too (“R2DToo”) tent camp, currently located at the corner of NW 4th and Burnside. An August 30, 2016, decision by the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (“LUBA”) effectively blocks the latest solution. The City … Continue Reading
National numbers released this morning show that home prices rose 5.1 percent year to year nationwide—although, according to The Wall Street Journal, “[p]rice growth did show some sign of slowing in the country’s largest cities.” But is this “slowing” being seen in Portland? It appears not. Housing prices in the Portland area increased 12.6 percent from June … Continue Reading
Today Portland Commissioner Dan Saltzman, whose bureau assignments include the Portland Housing Bureau and the Bureau of Development Services, proposed a new excise tax on residential and commercial development equal to one percent of the total permit valuation, revenue from which would be dedicated to build and preserve affordable housing. The tax is estimated to raise … Continue Reading
By Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP on Posted in Housing,Tax
At a time when Portland grapples with a shortage in housing, two new regulatory changes may bring many more accessory dwelling units (ADUs)—small apartment units like basements and small backyard houses added to single-family homes—to the city, thereby helping to increase the housing stock. According to the Portland Tribune, an “unusually high property tax” leveled … Continue Reading
Last month, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development issued guidance that all residential landlords, property managers, and brokers should be aware of: While checking a potential renter’s criminal background is not off limits when reviewing the person’s housing application, doing so in a way that has an adverse effect on a protected … Continue Reading
Just days after the Oregon Senate approved a bill that would allow inclusionary zoning—i.e. permitting local governments to condition the grant of incentives to developers on the inclusion of affordable housing in new developments—at least one United States Supreme Court Justice has sent a signal that the Court may wish to review such laws (as … Continue Reading
The Oregon Supreme Court issued a decision on February 19, 2016, affirming a decision to dismiss a homeowner’s claim against a builder for defective construction. In Shell v. Schollander Companies, Inc., 350 Or 552 (2016), defendant, a builder, began construction on a “spec” home in 1999. When the home was approximately 95 percent complete, plaintiff … Continue Reading
Zillow, a real estate listing and analytics company, recently looked at the “break-even” time horizon for owning a house versus renting in a number of markets across the nation. “Breaking even” means the amount of time it will take for the cost of owning a home to be equal to the cost of renting. The … Continue Reading
After years of media speculation and pundits declaring that the millennial generation is so very different and may never own a car or a house, changing all business and real estate markets, Globe.st.com shares some actual research data showing that the lull of the great recession may actually fit historical patterns. With household-formation rates back to normal … Continue Reading
The Portland Business Journal reports on the latest Case-Shiller home price numbers for Portland. We are still climbing, but not at the accelerated rate of several other cities, where record prices have reached above the 2006-2007 peaks. The Portland metro area actually fits right in the national composite profile right now.… Continue Reading
