Portland’s middle-income earners feel the squeeze
Portland has been experiencing a housing development boom in the past few years, but it hasn’t helped middle-income earners, according to a new report.
The report by the Greater Portland Council of Governments found that there is a lack of housing under construction for those earning 80% to 100% of the region’s median income of about $36,000 annually, according to the Portland Press Herald. The report said Portland’s median rent, now $1,183 a month, is above what middle-income earners can afford at $911 a month.
“New construction is well beyond the means of the middle class,” the report said. “From 2010 to 2014, 1,130 housing units were permitted and/or built in Portland … [and] just 29% were offered at a rent or sales price affordable to a household earning the median income. If robust growth continues, Portland will continue to lose the affordability of its housing stock.”
The report suggested a few remedies to address the problem, including incentives to build denser housing and a requirement to make a certain number of housing units in each development affordable.
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