The Rental Market in Portland Maine

Today in the Wall Street Journal an article was written about how apartment rentals nationwide have hit a 30 year peak in vacancy rates for the 4th quarter 2009.   The major contributing factors being a poor economy, an excess of new units flooding the market and simply the fact that with interest rates at 40 year historical lows it is now cheaper to purchase a home in many markets than it is to rent and then on top of this you throw in the 8K tax credit further enticing parties to pursue ownership.

How has the Portland Maine Apartment Rental market faired throughout this period. Per the Housing and Urban development Agency (HUD), the fair market rental rates in 2009 for Portland were $844 for a 1 bedroom unit and $1042 for a 2 bedroom.  For 2010 the published rates ironically climbed to $856 and $1106, no big surprise the way our government often works!

Looking quickly at Craigs List and one can infer that these governmental figures are indeed a bit high.  Most 1 bedroom units in Portland seem to be listed between $600 and $800 whilst 2 bedrooms are running between $900 to $1200.  A major swing variable however in Maine apartment rentals is the heating costs as during the winter months ones heating bill could range from the low end of $50 upwards to $200 plus for even a modest sized apartment.  With the price of oil and natural gas rising, one can also expect these figures to continue increasing as well. Many units have heat included, but many do not thus making it critical to determine and factor into ones equation when pricing out apartment rentals.