This month, we look at trends in real estate investment, lending, living, and home buying that are shaping the market we live in. How will Oregon’s new rent control laws impact the amount of multifamily housing that gets built? Plus, find out why more married couples are taking on roommates just to pay the rent, and what’s behind the increase in the number of service members taking advantage of VA loans.

 

Three out of Four Service members Using VA Loans

A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows that in 2007, service members buying their first home used VA loans approximately just 30 percent of the time. By 2016, that figure had risen to 78 percent, meaning more than three out of four service members bought their first home using a VA loan. Why the sudden spike, and what does that mean for sellers?

 

Oregon’s Rent Control Law Worries Multifamily Experts

Oregon is the latest state to pass rent control in an effort to slow down runaway housing prices in areas like Portland, Bend, Eugene, and Corvallis. But multifamily sector experts worry that these new regulations are just the beginning.

 

Is Three Still a Crowd?

New data from real estate website Trulia shows that more and more married couples are taking on roommates to help pay the mortgage or rent. What’s driving this new trend?

 

Demand for Warehousing and Storage Space Up in Oregon

There has been a surge in commercial real estate demand for mini warehouse facilities and self-storage space from business owners who sell or store products sold on Amazon. Demand in Portland was up 11 percent between 2010 and 2017. But changing demographics are also playing a role.

  

Can Big Tech Fix the Affordable Housing Crisis?

While rising home prices can be a boom to investors and homeowners, runaway prices in the past decade have left many behind including legacy homeowners and tenants in areas that have gentrified, as well as those who never attained homeownership in the first place, and are left to manage rising rent prices. Is affordable housing the net area of disruption for Amazon, Facebook and Google?

 

Five Trends Real Estate Investors Should Watch

With first quarter in the rear-view mirror, the lay of the land for the remainder of 2019 is becoming clear. Here are five trends in real estate investment that will shape the market in 2019.

           

Would You Buy a Shipping Container to Live in?

More over, tiny homes! One Oregon City entrepreneur believes sustainable homes refashioned from shipping containers will be the wave of the future. His company, Relevant Buildings, fabricates finished homes out of recycled containers from nearby ports.