Oregon’s Rental Market in Late 2025: Cooling After the Storm, But Pockets of Strength Remain

November 2025 – Five years after the pandemic-era rental frenzy, Oregon’s housing market finally feels like it’s catching its breath. The explosive double-digit rent spikes of 2021–2022 have given way to flat or slightly declining prices in most areas, longer days on market, vacancy rates creeping above 6%, and year-over-year rent growth that is either modestly negative or (in a few places) surprisingly positive.

This is the picture that emerges from Apartment List’s October 2025 data releases — five datasets that track rent estimates, year-over-year and month-over-month growth, vacancy rates, and time-on-market across the nation. Below is a detailed, city-by-city breakdown of where Oregon stands today, why the market looks the way it does, and what renters, landlords, and policymakers can reasonably expect in the next 12–36 months.

“Oregon Rental Market • October 2025: The Fever Has Broken Statewide rents ↓ 1.3 % YoY for the first time since 2020 • Vacancy climbing to 6.2 % • Portland & Bend finally cooling after the pandemic surge • Eugene still rising +4.6 %”

Statewide Snapshot (October 2025)

Metric (Oct 2025)	Oregon	National	Notes
Median Rent (all unit sizes)	$1,462	$1,381	+5.9% premium over U.S. average
1-Bedroom Median Rent	$1,241	~$1,230
2-Bedroom Median Rent	$1,446	~$1,367
YoY Rent Growth	–1.3%	–0.9%	First sustained negative YoY since 2020
Vacancy Rate	6.2%	7.1%	Slightly tighter than national
Avg. Days on Market	31.7	33.3	Listings moving a bit faster than U.S. average

Oregon remains more expensive than the national average, but the gap has narrowed dramatically from its 2022 peak (when the state was ~15–18% above the U.S.).

Historical Rent Trajectory (Statewide Overall Median)

Period	Rent	Notes
Jan 2019	$1,246	Pre-pandemic baseline
Jun 2021	$1,371	Early pandemic surge
Jun 2022	$1,525	Absolute peak (+22% in ~18 months)
Jan 2023	$1,486	First cooldown
Oct 2025	$1,462	–4.1% off the 2022 peak

City & Metro Highlights

Portland Metro (Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA)

Metric	Value
Oct 2025 Median Rent	$1,656
YoY Growth	–1.4%
Vacancy	6.2%
Days on Market	~33

Portland proper (city limits): $1,544 overall (–1.6% YoY), vacancy 7.0% — noticeably softer than the broader metro.

What happened? 2021–2022 saw massive in-migration (mostly from California) + remote-work flexibility + very low vacancy (sub-4%). Developers responded with the largest apartment construction wave in decades (≈15,000 units delivered 2022–2025 in the metro). Add Oregon’s 2019 statewide rent-control law (caps annual increases at 7% + CPI, currently ≈9.9% max for 2025–26 leases) and negative headlines around homelessness/crime, and net migration turned negative in 2023–2024. Result: the first sustained negative YoY rent growth in Portland since the Great Recession.

Suburbs (Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Wilsonville, Tualatin) still command premiums but are following the same softening trajectory.

Bend / Central Oregon

Metric	Value
Oct 2025 Median Rent	~$1,634–$1,727
YoY Growth	–2.9% to –3.1% (steepest in state)
Peak (mid-2021)	$2,047 (!!)

Bend is the poster child for the pandemic boom-bust cycle. Remote workers and lifestyle migrants from CA and Seattle pushed rents up >60% in 18 months. Supply finally caught up (thousands of new units in Bend/Redmond) and many “COVID movers” have since left or bought homes once rates stabilized. Expect continued softening through 2026 unless another remote-work wave materializes.

Eugene-Springfield

Metric	Value
Oct 2025 Median Rent	$1,266
YoY Growth	+4.6% — strongest in Oregon

The big outlier. University of Oregon enrollment is near record highs, new biotech/health-sciences jobs are growing, and supply has been extremely constrained (Lane County issued fewer multifamily permits than almost any comparable market). Eugene is the one major Oregon market still seeing robust rent growth.

Salem & Mid-Willamette Valley

Metric	Value
Oct 2025 Median Rent	$1,291–$1,326
YoY Growth	+1.1%

State government employment provides stability; new supply has been modest. Salem remains the most affordable of Oregon’s three largest markets.

Why the Market Is Behaving This Way

1. Supply finally arrived Oregon added ~45,000 multifamily units statewide 2021–2025 (concentrated in Portland and Bend). That’s the largest delivery wave in state history.

   
   

2. Migration reversal U-Haul’s 2024–2025 migration data shows Oregon near the bottom of “growth states” again after briefly ranking in the top 10 in 2020–2021.

   
   

3. Rent control (HB 2001 / SB 608) Oregon remains the only state with statewide rent stabilization. Landlords cannot raise rents more than ~9.9% in any 12-month period (7% + CPI). This has visibly capped upside in renewals and made some investors hesitant.

   
   

4. Interest rates & construction costs New projects penciled out at 4% debt in 2021; today debt is 6.5–7%+. Fewer projects are breaking ground in 2025–2026, which sets the stage for tightening again around 2027–2028.

   
   

5. Local factors Portland’s high vacancy is partly self-inflicted (perceptions of crime/homelessness). Eugene benefits from steady student demand. Bend is highly sensitive to lifestyle migration trends.

What Could Change the Trajectory?

Short-term (2026–2027)

• If the Fed cuts another 100–150 bps, expect renewed California → Oregon migration and a quick snap-back in Portland/Bend rents.

• Continued high vacancy in Portland could push effective rents (after concessions) down another 3–5% in 2026.

Medium-term (2027–2030)

• Oregon’s urban growth boundary and slow permitting will eventually re-assert scarcity.

• Intel’s $20B+ expansion in Hillsboro and Nike/Google growth will keep Washington County tight.

• Middle housing reforms (duplexes–sixplexes now allowed in most cities) will slowly add “missing middle” supply, especially in Eugene and Salem.

Policy Levers That Actually Matter

1. Speed up permitting — Portland still takes 18–36 months for multifamily entitlements. Cutting that in half would unlock 10,000+ units.

2. Tax-increment or property-tax abatement extensions for new apartments in high-vacancy submarkets (inner Portland, Bend).

3. Targeted homelessness/housing-first investments — improving perceptions of safety would immediately lower vacancy in Portland proper.

Bottom Line for Renters & Landlords (November 2025)

Renters: This is the best negotiating environment in Oregon since 2019. Ask for one month free or reduced parking fees — many buildings are offering 6–8 weeks free on 12–15 month leases (effectively –5% to –8% rent). Lock in a 24-month lease if you’re in Portland or Bend; you’ll likely be protected by rent control from big increases.

Landlords / Investors: Portland and Bend are “cap rate expansion” markets right now (prices falling, yields rising). Eugene and Salem remain “growth” plays. Expect another 12–18 months of soft conditions before absorption catches up with the 2022–2025 delivery wave.

Oregon’s rental market has finally corrected from its pandemic extremes. The state is no longer the wild outlier it was in 2022 — it’s merely expensive again, not insane. And in university towns like Eugene, the party never really ended.

The next big move will depend on interest rates, migration trends, and whether Oregon can build its way out of its chronic undersupply faster than it has in the past. For now, the market is giving everyone — renters and owners alike — a rare moment to breathe.

Sources & References All figures in this article are derived from Apartment List’s October 2025 national rent datasets (released early November 2025):

• Apartment List National Rent Estimates – October 2025 (primary download page for all CSV files used)

• Specific datasets:

  • Rent Estimates

  • Year-over-Year Rent Growth

  • Vacancy Index

  • Time on Market

  • Month-over-Month Growth

Direct download links are available on the category page above (files updated monthly). Historical context also draws from Apartment List’s public research archives and U-Haul migration reports.