Medford’s Housing Market Gains Momentum Due to Multi-Family Projects

The Medford metro, like many other U.S. metros, is facing the challenge of meeting the housing needs of its growing population. However, recent data from Point2Homes offers a glimmer of hope for homebuyers in the area as residential permitting activity has surged in the first half of 2023.

Across the nation, the first six months of 2023 witnessed a 17.5% decrease in the total number of new housing permits compared to the same period in 2022. Factors like rising borrowing costs and material shortages have contributed to this decline, affecting most cities. However, Medford stands out as one of the 90 out of 384 U.S. metros where the number of permits has actually spiked, marking an impressive ~15% increase for the first half of 2023. In comparison, Oregon overall saw a 4.46% decrease in housing permits issued in the sane timeframe.

This positive trend indicates that Medford’s housing market is on the verge of a significant boost. Developers are now one step closer to breaking ground on 663 new housing units, with 327 of them planned for multi-family buildings.

While the number of permits for single-family homes in Medford did experience a 26% decrease in the first half of 2023, the market is still set to receive no fewer than 298 new single-family homes, which will help alleviate some of the inventory concerns. The biggest swing was the massive increase in multi-family permits issued. Projects with 5+ units saw a 147.7% increase in permits for the first half of the year.

In light of this encouraging permitting activity, Medford’s residents and potential homebuyers have reasons to be optimistic. As new residential developments take shape, the city is poised to maintain its upward trend though the rest of 2023.