We have been writing about a strong rental market here in Bend for almost a year now. Homes are being rented almost as fast as investors can buy them and fix them up. The property management side of Preferred Residential has had no problem filling homes with qualified tenants either. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we had a house sit vacant for more than a couple weeks. On the sales side, a large percentage of our buyers over the last 12 months have been investors. It’s a hot market and if Paul Dales, a senior economist with Capital Economics is to be believed, the market will only get hotter.
Dales was quoted in a recent article on HousingWire as saying, “We expect the annual rate at which rents are rising will rise to 3% this year and remain at that level in 2013. Assuming that the economic recovery gains firmer footing, in future years there is scope for rents to rise by around 4% a year.” Three to four percent yearly increases in return on investment is music to rental property owners’ ears. What makes those numbers even better is that Dales expects vacancy rates to keep falling. “As a consequence of Americans being less willing and less able to buy a home, the number of households in rented accommodation is set to rise by at least 850,000 a year over the next few years.”
Of course, Dales was speaking about the national rental market, not Bend, Oregon. However, we are seeing something very similar with residential rentals in Bend. As I wrote in February, rental rates rose significantly in from 2010 to 2011 and don’t show any signs of slowing down. If you would like to see properties with great rental potential in Bend or Redmond then give us a call at (541) 508-2930. We are uniquely qualified to advise real estate investors in Central Oregon.
More posts about the strong rental market in Bend.