Portland New Home Construction News

Ongoing housing supply deficits are perhaps the greatest problem in the local and national real estate market.

We can see if the the housing supply problem is on the way to being remedied or is going to get worse over time by looking at local annual new home construction rates and reports.

If you’re looking for an experienced new home construction buyers agent who has worked with all of the top builders in the PNW, Kami Price, buyers specialist would love to hear what you’re looking for. Call today to set an appointment.

Kami Price, Realtor
Represented Hundreds of Buyers
Licensed since 2004
503-773-0000

Highlighting New Home Construction Developments in Portland, Oregon – 2023 Report

June 9, 2023

Despite the density-focused zoning changes in Portland over the last few years that allow for more new homes to be built on existing lots, new home construction rates within the city proper are low. The city faces challenges with material and labor shortages, along with a slightly declining population base. While larger (10+ homes) new construction developments are rare and nearly impossible to find within the city of Portland proper, there are choices in the surrounding suburbs. Most of the real estate development still happening within the city of Portland proper is composed of apartment buildings. If you’re looking to research Portland, Oregon new construction, we recommend nextPortland.com and the gallery of new construction maps at PortlandMaps.com. Let’s explore what’s...

Portland, Oregon New Home Construction Numbers into 2023

October 5, 2022

It’s happening. The Portland real estate market is cooling after a two-year hot streak. Home prices have slowed and started to drop in some areas. Likewise, new home construction is down across the country, according to the U.S. Census July, 2022 report. Portland, Oregon has done a lot to try to increase the amount of available housing with recent updated high density zoning laws, but in terms of new home construction, those efforts have yet to bear any fruit what-so-ever. This is most likely due to the increased cost and shortage of materials, and lack of available labor over the past few years. Portland New Home Construction Numbers in 2022 Portland New Home Construction 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020...

Portland’s Housing Supply: What Kind, Where? 2022 Report

June 22, 2022

The continuing real estate topic at the forefront of everyone’s focus is the shortage of single-family homes. And not just in Portland, but across the entire country. Demand will likely remain high (at least for single family detached homes) while the real estate market slows down. New construction has slowed significantly for both single-family and multi-family housing, due to supply chain issues and a shortage of laborers (and more recently due to increased borrowing costs). Curious about what Portland’s housing supply will look like in the future? How single-family homes and multiple unit dwellings will shake out? And what about homeowners versus renters? We reviewed the numbers from the past decade, the current numbers, and new legislation to see what...

Alpenrose Dairy Real Estate Project 2022 Update

June 13, 2022

We’ve written about Portland’s real estate inventory crisis over and over for the past two years. And like everyone else, we’re watching to see how the city and developers are dealing with a growing population alongside this shortage of homes—in both real estate and rental housing. One step has been the Residential Infill Project. Another proposed effort that could be a step the direction to alleviate some of the inventory pressure is the potential Alpenrose Project started in 2021. The 56-acre Alpenrose Dairy/Shattuck Road property could become the location for a new 193-home subdivision. After the contentious sale of the property, which put the business in the hands of Seattle-based Smith Brothers Farm, with the land on Shattuck Road still...

Portland New Home Construction Up or Down by the End of 2021?

September 27, 2021

2020 marked a noticeable drop in residential construction in the Portland Metro area due to the pandemic. In 2021, not much has changed. In fact, we’re seeing a marked slump in new home construction, despite recently passed, truly historic, higher density zoning rules in Portland. Let’s see how the Rose City is faring so far this year. This city of Portland website shows the numbers of issued, under review, and finaled (building has been completed) new home construction permits in Portland, Oregon. Let’s compare Portland’s 2021’s new home construction numbers to date with the past six years. 2015 931 2016 980 2017 917 2018 967 2019 697 2020 500 2021 571 Portland New Home Construction Permits Issued by Year As...

SW Portland Alpenrose Dairy could turn into 193 Home Subdivision

June 7, 2021

In what could be good news for Portland’s housing shortage, the former Alpenrose Dairy property in Southwest Portland might soon be the site of a new, 193 house subdivision. In August of 2019, Alpenrose sold to Smith Brothers Farms of Washington State. Since then, the fate of the 56 acre property on Shattuck Road has been uncertain. In late May, however, the Florida-based Lennar Corporation submitted documents to Portland’s Bureau of Development Services, proposing the new development. Both the 2019 sale and the prospect of new housing elicited a mixed reception from the community. Most notably, many feel saddened by the loss of this Southwest Portland fixture. While the future of this huge property lies in doubt still, its past...

New Home Construction Dropped in Portland 2020, Will it Recover in 2021?

November 2, 2020

Like everything else this in 2020, new construction in Portland was hit by the pandemic, but signs are already pointing to a healthy recovery in 2021. To understand what’s going on with the new construction market, let’s take a look at new construction permits that have been issued, under review, and finaled (meaning the building was completed) in Portland, and compare those to previous years. Here are the new residential construction permit numbers for the first nine months of 2020, direct from the City of Portland database. So far this year: 540 new residential construction permits have been issued 294 are under review 714 have been finaled As you can see from the chart below, 2020 will be a five-year...

new home construction portland real estate

New Home Construction Down in Portland – 2019 Update

March 29, 2019

Portland’s economy is booming and our rate of commercial construction is grabbing national attention. In fact, the number of construction cranes over downtown Portland — 26 — was tied with Chicago this winter, despite the fact that Chicago (proper) has a population of 2.7 million while Portland (proper) rings in at 630,000. It follows that if there are new commercial buildings being built and expanded, that Portland is creating jobs and bringing in new people fill them. And, in fact, we still have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, even with a growing population. So, where is the residential construction to house these workers? The number of new building permits issued for single family homes in Portland...

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New Construction Steady, Home Demolitions Down – Portland 2018

August 31, 2018

Want to know the future of the real estate supply in the City of Portland? One strategy is to look to the past — specifically, to old homes that are being demolished. Portland suburbs have been adding housing on new tracts of land as population pressures push growth outward. For residential construction in the City of Portland, these large tracts of land simply don’t exist. Usually, to build, developers first have to tear down an older home. (We are not advocating this, just reporting on it.) Home Demolition Increased Between 2000 and 2016 in Portland, there was an explosion in home demolitions that had some real estate experts worried that the old city would soon be gone. According to a...

Top Ten Tips for Buying New Construction in Portland

March 17, 2017

Let’s face it: There aren’t a whole lot of homes available in the central, older parts of Portland in this low-inventory real estate market. Luckily, there’s been new construction happening all over Portland in the past couple of years. In fact, the City of Portland has been issuing new construction permits at a rate of about 600 a year for the past four years (new construction has been very slow for a long time in Portland, read our article on that here, but things look like they could be changing), but these are a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds under construction and planned in Portland suburbs! Unfortunately, many Portland home buyers don’t want to tour new homes...

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Stephen FitzMaurice

Team at eXp Realty