No, You’re Not Crazy — There *Is* a Housing Shortage

Let’s just get this out of the way:
If you’ve been house hunting in Oregon—or anywhere from Tacoma to Colorado Springs—and feel like you’re chasing unicorns, you’re not wrong. The housing market in 2025 is like playing musical chairs with 10 people, 6 chairs, and 3 Airbnbs.

🧩 What’s Actually Missing? Middle Housing. 

You’ve heard the term. Maybe you nodded politely and Googled it later. I did.

Middle housing, when you are a first time buyer refers to things like smaller or older single family residences, condos, townhomes, and duplexes. Think: mega mansion or falling apart, but something in between. You know—the perfect Goldilocks housing. Good price, low payment.

Historically, these were starter homes and the first rung on the homeownership ladder. The kind of places your teacher, firefighter, or cousin-who-works-at-a-nonprofit could afford.

But now?

They’re either:

• Being scooped up by investors and turned into short-term rentals, or
• Not being built at all because of outdated zoning laws, red tape, or community pushback that basically says, “Sure we want more housing… just not next to me.”

📉 Let’s Look at the Stats (Because Feelings Aren’t Enough)

🏡 Portland, OR

• Vacancy rate: ~4.76%
• Home price to income ratio: ~5.6x
• Translation: You need $100k+ income just to sniff the median home.

🏔 Bend, OR

• Median home price: $750,000+
• Short supply + big vacation demand = working locals priced out

🟢 Eugene, OR

• Fewer Airbnbs, but still tight
• Middle housing legalized but buildout is slow

🌄 Denver & Colorado Springs

• Tight inventory, growing demand
• Reform-friendly but still catching up to Oregon and Washington

🌧 Seattle–Tacoma

• Median home price: ~$720,000
• Upzoning passed in 2023, but NIMBYism is alive and well

🧠 What We’ve Done (And Why It’s Not Enough… Yet)

Oregon’s HB 2001 was a game-changer: it made middle housing legal in every city over 10,000 people. Goodbye, single-family-only zoning. Hello, duplexes. Hellos ADUS or accessory dwelling units, tiny homes, converted garages that you can use for multi-generational living or to rent out to offset your  mortgage payment.

Portland’s Residential Infill Project (RIP & RIP2) took it a step further—by 2024, over 1,400 middle-housing units were built in single-dwelling zones. That’s progress!

But let’s be honest: we’re still behind. Permit numbers are low. Builders are cautious. And supply isn’t catching up to demand. Not yet. Building supplies are expensive. Tariffs aren’t helping.

🌏 What Singapore Can Teach Us

While we’re here, let’s take a peek across the Pacific. Singapore figured out how to keep housing from becoming a speculative hobby.

They tax the heck out of extra properties:

• Up to 36% property tax on non-owner-occupied homes
• 20%–65% stamp duties if you buy a second or third home

In other words: “Use it or lose it.” 

✅ So, What Now?

You can be successful, in your quest for homeownership – with the right plan, the right team, and yes, maybe a little down payment assistance (we’ll get to that in another post). If you are buying or refinancing residential or residential-agricultural property in Oregon, Washington, or Colorado, call us at Eugene Mortgage Brokers or Bend Mortgage Brokers today. We make it easy!

At Eugene Mortgage Brokers, and Bend Mortgage Brokers, we don’t just hand you a rate and send you on your way. We help you make sense of a nonsensical market.

We’ll help you find TRUE options and REAL numbers that work for you and your family. You aren’t just a phone number on the call center white board, you are a real person to us. 

We Make It Easy.
Want to know what you qualify for—or what’s even possible?
📞 Call us. 📧 Email us. 🚪 Knock on our door.