CY 2019 Oregon: Duplex Per Unit Permit Values 30%-46% BELOW SF Per Unit Permit Values; 3-4 Units 35%-63% Below.

Census has released preliminary CY 2019 housing permit counts and valuations. Final CY 2019 data will not be available until May. 

I extracted counts and valuations for Oregon, the City of Portland, and for several Oregon metro areas where duplex and 3-4 unit permits had been issued. (Prior related posts are HERE and HERE).

My focus today is a comparison of duplex and 3-4 unit AVERAGE PER UNIT PERMIT values to single family AVERAGE PER UNIT PERMIT values. This does NOT represent the final total cost/value/sales price for the different unit types. Excluded are neighborhood and market considerations, square footage and bedroom counts, and the cost of land.  (Note also that SF AVERAGE PER UNIT PERMIT values include both attached and detached SF units, so IF detached SF units alone were used SF AVERAGE PER UNIT values would be likely higher).

Nevertheless, the cost of construction is a key element in final housing costs/values. If per unit construction costs are lower and land is shared by more units there is a likelihood that sales prices and values will be lower on a per unit basis.

My analysis shows:

• Duplex AVERAGE PER UNIT PERMIT values were 30%-46% below AVERAGE SINGLE FAMILY PER UNIT PERMIT permit values.
• 3-4 Unit properties AVERAGE PER UNIT PERMIT values were 35%-63% below SINGLE FAMILY AVERAGE PER UNIT PERMIT.

Below I have pasted a graph illustrating these differences, along with a table with the values for each area and unit type. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.