Housing Stock & Production
Corvallis has always been a community with a mix of single family, duplex, and multifamily housing types. The 2016 City of Corvallis Housing Needs Analysis and Economic Opportunities Analysis indicated that Corvallis needs to permit, on average, 177 new residential dwelling units per year in order to meet the demands of natural growth, and 500 units per Executive Order 23-04, to meet state-wide production goals. This number does not include the number of units that would be required to meet the pent-up demand of people already working in Corvallis but living elsewhere.
1. Residential Building Permits
As a college community, Corvallis has a larger demand for multi-family building types than state averages, but is in line with the experience of similar college communities. Multi-family production can vary significantly from year to year as large projects are constructed, but single family production is usually less subject to dramatic year to year shifts. The level of production for single family homes in Corvallis has never recovered from the Great Recession over a decade ago and is currently in the longest stretch of low production in the last 50 years. When demand for housing of any type exceeds supply, pricing will tend to rise and affordability challenges become more severe. Source: City of Corvallis Development Services.
2. Acres Annexed By Decade
Since the 1990s, there has been a dramatic decline in the amount of land annexed to the city to serve its growing population. This is approximately the same time period that saw increasing challenges with housing affordability as well as large increases in the number of employees commuting in from other communities rather than living and working in Corvallis. Source: City of Corvallis Community Development Department.
3. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) are small secondary housing units constructed on the same property as an existing house. ADUs can be attached to the main dwelling unit or freestanding. In 2019, the Oregon State Legislature passed HB 2001 in an effort to address a statewide housing shortage. HB2001 reduced some of the restrictions on ADUs including parking requirements and a requirement for owner occupancy. The City amended some of its ADU zoning and siting regulations which has resulted in an increase in ADU construction. Source: City of Corvallis Development Services.
4. Corvallis Housing Stock Age
Corvallis currently has approximately 25,732 housing units. Residential structures generally have an initial serviceable life of around 40 years before they need to be rehabilitated. A large proportion of Corvallis' housing stock is at or nearing this benchmark, which suggests that the community has a need for rehab/refurbish programs as well as new construction. Source: U.S. Census: DEC Demographic and Housing Characteristics.
5. Housing Production Versus Need
Based on the Housing Needs Analysis (HNA) completed in 2016, Corvallis needs to permit, on average, 177 new residential dwelling units per year in order to meet the demands of natural growth, and 500 units per Executive Order 23-04, to meet state-wide production goals. This projection does not include existing needs associated with in-commuters. Data from the US Census Bureau shows that 19,412 in-commuters enter Corvallis every day for work (2020). An ECONorthwest study commissioned in 2014 found that 40% of commuters (or7,765 people in 2020) would prefer to live in Corvallis if they could. Based on the 2020 in-commuter data, there are 19,412 people who work in Corvallis but don’t live in our community. If the Housing Needs Analysis findings have held and 40% of those in-commuters would like to live in Corvallis that would mean an increase of 7765 people. The State of Oregon Employment Department states that the average size of Oregon households are 2.44 people. And assuming these commuters would form households together which creates the lowest possible number of units that would be needed for this population, an additional 3182 units to house commuters who would like to live in Corvallis. Please see the 2022 Land Development Information Report for additional data and analysis. Sources: State of Oregon Employment Department, Corvallis Development Services, US Census OnTheMap-2020.
