Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Federal Housing Finance Agency Home Price Index (FHFA HPI)

The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index (HPI) is a weighted, repeat-sales index that measures average price changes in established single-family homes in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metropolitan area. The HPI is a market value–weighted index, meaning that each home in the sample represents a certain percentage of the total value of all homes in the market. The HPI covers single-family detached homes and condominiums/cooperative apartments/townhomes with values up to $417,000.

As of December 2020, the Portland metro HPI was 276.0, up 7.2% from December 2019. This marks the fourth consecutive year of positive annual growth and the highest level on record. Home prices have increased 37% since bottoming out in February 2012 following the housing market crash and Great Recession.

There are several factors driving strong demand for housing in the Portland metro area which has led to rising home prices. These include: population growth (the region has added over 400,000 residents since 2010), low interest rates (stimulating demand from both buyers and refinancers), limited supply of available homes for sale (due to both new construction lagging behind population growth and existing homeowners being reluctant to sell), and strong job market conditions (supporting household income growth).

The combination of these factors has resulted in bidding wars for many properties leading to sharp increases in sale prices relative to list prices – often 10% or more above asking price. This has caused affordability challenges for many would-be buyers who are being priced out of the market or forced to purchase less expensive homes further away from their desired location. It has also put pressure on renters as landlords have been able to raise rents at above average rates due to high demand from potential tenants competing for available units.