Ownership Costs vs. Renting: Report Says Renting Is Smart Choice, Including Portland Metro Area.

Center for Economic and Policy Research has new paper HERE.

For Portland metro area, I constructed the table below using data in report:

Measure	Before Taxes	After Tax, 15% Bracket	After Tax, 25% Bracket
Median Home Price 06-07	$283,800	$283,800	$283,800
Monthly Ownership Costs	$1,542	$1,457	$1,400
Monthly Fair Market Rent	$809	$809	$809
Monthly Savings from Rent	$733	$648	$591

(Results are highly dependent on accuracy of values selected for comparison;I have not attempted to analyze the accuracy of the values selected. I did note that rent base used was for 2 BR FMR, which may be less than typical size/quality than a prospective homeowner might be willing and able to pay).

HUD Publishes Proposed FY 2010 FMR's; Portland 2BR FMR Up $30.

HUD has published a notice of proposed Fair Market Rents for FY 2010, with Federal Register publication expected on August 4th.
Main page for FMR's is HERE.

A Quick Oregon Comparison Table.
I put together the table HERE to show Oregon comparisons of Final FY 2009 and PROPOSED FY 2010 FMR'S (table is legal sized paper, landscape orientation).

Some quick notes on 2 BR FMR changes I see:

1. Portland increases by 3.7% ($30) from $809 to $839.
2. Eugene decreases by .3% ($2) from $768 to $766.
3. Salem - no change.
4. Other counties, 2.7% to 2.9% increases, $17-$22.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Update-NLIHC Data: Oregon Renter "Housing Wage" State Ranking Improves Again, Up By 6 Ranks Since 2000.

[Update: Changed (improper) reference to 2 bedroom median rent to HUD 2 Bedroom Fair Market Rent]

The National Low Income Housing Coalition [NLIHC] Out of Reach study for 2007-2008 was released today HERE.

Housing Wage State Ranking
Each year one set of NLIHC data released is a state ranking on the "housing wage", the hourly wage required for a family to be able to afford the 2 bedroom HUD Fair Market Rent for that state. A HIGHER state ranking means a state is LESS affordable to renters; the worst ranking therefore would be 51,and the best 1. (51 areas include the District of Columbia. In order to allow comparison to 2000 my rankings exclude one of NLIHC areas , Puerto Rico, as it was not included in the 2000 NLIHC rankings. My rankings are thus one place different than the published NLIHC rankings for 2002, 2004,2006 and 2008.

My analysis: Housing wage state ranking

1. In 2000 Oregon ranked 30th.
2. In 2002 it improved to 29th
3. In 2004 it improved to 25th
4. In 2006 it remained at 25th
5. In 2008 Oregon's improved to 24th
   

Conclusion: Note that this measure effectively tracks changes in HUD 2 bedroom Fair Market Rents only, and not changes in actual family incomes. Using this NLIHC measure, relative to other states, Oregon's renter affordability has improved since 2000 with Oregon firmly in the middle of the pack among states on this measure.

My 2 page PDF compilation and table of state housing wage data from 2000-2006 NLIHC Out of Reach studies is HERE.

Housing Wage $$ and % Change
The 2008 Oregon housing wage was $13.87. Without adjusting for inflation/wage growth the housing wage increased by:

1. $2.20/19% since 2000. (Washington state grew by 26%)
   
2. $.41/3% since 2006. (Washington state grew by 7%)
   

HUD Issues Oregon FY 2008 Proposed Fair Market Rents, Rural Areas Got Biggest Boost, Salem Virtually None. Comments Due Aug. 13

On July 12, HUD finally issued proposed fair market rents for use in the largest HUD rental assistance housing program in Oregon, the Housing Choice voucher program.

A quick review shows that for the benchmark 2 bedroom unit size: Rural areas got the largest percentage increase of 5% ($28-31 per month), while the increase in Portland was only about half of that at 2.7%,% ($ 20 per month). Marion County/Salem limped in with the lowest increase a meager .2% or $1 a month.

Exclusive Oregon Housing Blog Download Available: A one page MS Excel summary of Oregon 2 BR. Fair Market Rent Comparisons for 2007 and 2008 by County /Metro area is available for download here.

HUD Data Sources: The main HUD fair market rents page is here. (Readers encouraged to download and read the FY 2008 preamble here.)

Highly detailed calculations showing how rent increases were determined for Oregon can be individually searched here http://www.huduser.org/datasets/fmr/fmrs/st.odb

August 13 comment deadline: Despite HUD’s long delay in issuing the proposed FMR’s for FY 2008, comments on proposed FMRS are due August 13, a month after issuance.