83% of Vancouver-Portland metro area households can't afford median-priced new home
May 26-More than 83 percent of households in the Vancouver-Portland metro area cannot afford a median-priced new home, according to new data.
The National Association of Home Builders data indicates homeownership is slipping further out of reach for many. In metro areas like Vancouver-Portland, many households no longer earn enough income to qualify for the mortgage on the median new home. The median price for a newly built home in Vancouver-Portland is $729,000, requiring an income of about $209,000 to qualify for a mortgage, according to the report.
If the median new home price rises by even $1,000 in Vancouver, 160 households will be priced out because their incomes would no longer be enough to qualify for a mortgage.
"The housing affordability challenge is widespread across the country," the report states. "This indicates a significant disconnect between higher new home prices, elevated mortgage rates, and household incomes."
The Portland-Vancouver metro ranked among the least affordable major metros in the country, with only 17 percent of households able to afford the median new home. In Washington, the Vancouver area ranks sixth for the number of households that would be disqualified for a mortgage for a new home.
Recent research from the personal finance company WalletHub determined Vancouver is the 107th-most affordable place for homebuyers among 300 cities.
To compare, in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro area, about 67 percent of households are unable to afford the median new home price of $722,133.
In the Longview-Kelso metro area, more than 92 percent of households are unable to afford the median new home price of $579,854.
This story was made possible by Community Funded Journalism, a project from The Columbian and the Local Media Foundation. Top donors include the Ed and Dollie Lynch Fund, Patricia, David and Jacob Nierenberg, Connie and Lee Kearney, Steve and Jan Oliva, The Cowlitz Tribal Foundation and the Mason E. Nolan Charitable Fund. The Columbian controls all content. For more information, visit columbian.com/cfj.
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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 6:05 PM.