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V O L . X X I I I N O. I I I F E B R UA R Y 6 , 2 0 1 7 24 P ortland is on the map, nationally and internationally, as a great place to live, says Vitalius Real Estate Group principal Brit Vitalius. at's resulted in the new-housing boom but also tightens up residential availability nearly to the vanishing point. New units are selling quickly. Existing units that become available, whether for sale or rent, typically attract numerous inquiries within a day or two. In just one recent day, Vitalius had four requests from new buyers, both locals and out-of-state. "I have to call them back and say, 'It doesn't exist. Be patient,'" he says. e rental market has also been challenging for several years. Typical renters include professionals who are transferred to Portland, can pay more, and want to live in town. "It's diff erent from the past because more affl uent professionals didn't necessarily want to live downtown 20 years ago, maybe even 10 years ago," says Vitalius. "And now they're willing to pay a premium to live in town." Rental rates may have hit a plateau: e average rent for a one-bedroom in 2015 was $1,100, but last year dipped to $950 to $1,100. For a three-bedroom, renters in 2015 paid an average $1,550 in 2015 and $1,500 to $1,700 in 2016. Yet some argue that rents are still too high for many of Portland's residents. "We consider housing to be aff ord- able when people pay no more than 30% of their income on housing," says Dana Totman, president of Avesta Housing, one of the largest nonprofi t developers of aff ordable housing in New England. Avesta has about 700 units in Portland. What qualifi es as 'affordable'? Avesta focuses on people who earn $49,200 a year, or 80% of Portland's area median income. Portland's AMI was $61,500 in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Half of Portland's population earns less than that, Totman says. Among renters, the median income is $33,081; By Avesta's 30%-of-income standard, they could aff ord to pay $827 per month. " ere's a huge aff ordable housing problem in the greater Portland area," says Totman. "So we need to do one of two things — increase everyone's income or decrease the rent down by $600." So how do Portland's lower-income residents deal with the situation? " ey double up with other people. Or they're paying 50% to 60% of their income on their housing and don't have enough money to pay for a car or health insurance or food. Or they're homeless or living in substandard housing," says Totman. "Some people are moving to the outskirts. at tends to happen when an area becomes expensive: People move to less expen- sive areas, but often they increase their travel costs to get where the job is." en there are collateral challenges. "When employers can't fi nd employees because employees can't fi nd places to live, it's a huge economic problem," says Totman. "I think there are restaurants and stores that are struggling to fi nd workers because they cannot aff ord to live in Portland." P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't When employers can't find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because find employees because employees can't find places to live, that's a huge economic problem. — Dana Totman President, Avesta Housing B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r Brit Vitalius, principal and designated broker of Vitalius Real Estate Group, stands in front of a new house on Federal Street in Portland. Portland housing Striking a balance for all incomes

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