The Earth Times Says Portland Real Estate is Poised For Growth
Forecasting has become the new Optimism. We're bombarded with so much doom and gloom in the news that it's hard to believe there's not a silver lining or good fortune just around the corner! According to the 2008 Greater Portland Prosperity Index released by Greenlight Greater Portland, the Portland real estate region can anticipate 100,000 new jobs and a 29.1% increase in gross regional product by 2013!
The first annual Index takes a look at the Portland metro and compares it to nine other competitive markets, including Seattle, Denver, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Albuquerque and Austin. In assessing the city, areas like business, demographics and quality-of-life were examined. Compared to other areas, the Portland metro is poised for the second-highest growth, with Austin, Texas leading by a hair.
Greenlight also found that Portland real estate is one of the most affordable regions, with far lower commercial and residential prices than Seattle and California particularly. Portland real estate like office space costs just #25.30 per square foot, compared to $63.70 in Los Angeles or $46.90 in San Francisco. Median housing price, at $295,300, is the fourth-lowest. Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment ($875) is the third-lowest, behind Denver and Albuquerque.
The Index projects that Portland's business services sector will increase 23%, adding 170,300 workers by 2013. Similarly, the Index suggests Greater Portland's population will grow 8% over the next five years, to nearly 2.4 million people. Based on "quality of life," Portland real estate leads all ten study cities in number of bookstores per million residents (135), wineries per million residents (69) and brewpubs per million residents (23).