October 16, 2026
What Bend Multi-Family Construction Boom Means for Single-Family Owners
Investor Insights · Bend, Oregon · Updated October 2026
Bend just finished its biggest year of apartment building on record, and a larger wave is already framed and roofed. Here is what that supply means for the owner of a rental house.
The Short Answer for Bend Single-Family Owners
Bend multi-family construction is coming in two waves, and single-family rentals feel each one differently. The first wave, a record 1,159 units, opened in 2025 and is still filling. The second, 1,503 units, is under construction now and will mostly open in 2027 and 2028.
Apartment renters hold the leverage today. Occupancy is down, new buildings take months to lease, and free rent is common.
Houses are holding up better. Most apartment renters cannot afford to move up to a house, and a three-story walk-up does not come with a yard, a garage, or a fenced dog run.
The risk for house owners is narrower than the headlines suggest: longer vacancies and softer pricing on smaller and dated homes, especially in southeast Bend. The window to lock in good tenants before the second wave opens is the next six to nine months.
The Bottom Line
As of October 9, 2026, City of Bend permit records show 1,503 apartment and multi-unit homes under construction, about 1.3 times the 2025 record. That supply will pressure 2-bedroom houses and townhomes first. Well-kept 3 and 4-bedroom homes with yards remain a different product. In Legacy Property Management's portfolio, homes lease in 7 to 10 days and tenants stay 3 to 5 years on average as of September 2026. Owners who renew strong tenants and price to lease before 2027 will ride through this cycle with little lost income.
Bend Multi-Family Construction Is Arriving in Two Waves
We pulled every residential building permit in the City of Bend's open housing data through October 9, 2026, and counted duplexes, apartment buildings, and mixed-use residential together as multi-unit housing.
The result is not a gentle ramp. In 2025 the city finished 1,159 multi-unit homes, more than double the 2020 to 2024 average of about 510 a year and the highest annual total in City permit records going back to 1995. So far in 2026, only 213 have been completed.
That pause is temporary. 1,503 units hold active permits without a final inspection, which means they are under construction. That is roughly three years of normal production arriving at once, and equal to nearly 9% of the roughly 17,000 renter households cited in our August 2026 report.
The Permit Pipeline Peaked in April 2026
Permits explain why the second wave is bigger. According to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, Bend permitted just 132 multi-unit homes in all of 2024, then 1,110 in 2025. On a trailing 12-month basis, permits peaked at 1,403 units in April 2026.
Since then the pipeline has thinned. By August 2026 the trailing total had fallen to 866, down 38% from the peak. A third wave is not forming yet, and that matters for anyone deciding whether to hold through 2028.
Where the Second Wave Is Landing
This is not scattered infill. Nine projects of 59 units or more account for 1,366 of the 1,503 units, or 91%. Permits for buildings of four units or fewer add up to only 119 units.
About half of the wave, 770 units, sits in southeast Bend. Four projects make up 752 of them: a 264-unit walk-up complex on SE New Journey Drive permitted in early 2026, 204 market-rate units at Lamont at Easton, 128 income-restricted units at Easton, and 156 units at Larkspur Crossing on SE Wilson Avenue.
Elsewhere, Bear Creek Crossing adds about 180 units on the east side, the Britta Apartments off Halfway Road add 178 in north Bend, and Cascade Landing brings 98 income-restricted units to southwest Bend in its first phase. Roughly three in four units under construction are market-rate.
For house owners, location is the point. A dated 2-bedroom in Larkspur or the Easton area will compete with brand-new units a few blocks away. Our guide to the highest-rent neighborhoods in Bend already pegs Larkspur and Mountain View as the city's value-oriented entry points, which is exactly the tenant pool new apartments target. In that February 2026 analysis, Larkspur house asks of about $2,269 already ran 7% below the $2,443 sitting tenants paid.
What the First Wave Did to Bend Apartments
The 2025 deliveries changed the apartment market fast. As of September 2026, Bend apartments were about 92.5% occupied, per Legacy Property Management's market data, down from 96.4% a year earlier. CoStar figures reported by The Bulletin put vacancy above 10% in both 2024 and 2025, about twice the 15-year average.
History says that should have cleared quickly. The City of Bend's 2024 housing analysis found that earlier construction bursts lifted vacancy to around 7% and were absorbed in less than a year. The same analysis projected the 2023 and 2024 deliveries would be absorbed by late 2025. CoStar still showed vacancy above 10% that year, and the 2025 record batch landed on top of it.
Recently leased Bend apartments sat on the market a median of 70 days, against about 30 days in fall 2024. Asking rent is up only 0.5% year over year, and in-place apartment rent is down 0.4%.
The softness is concentrated. Buildings finished before 2010 are about 97% occupied, while buildings from 2023 or later sit near 88%. By neighborhood, apartment vacancy ranges from about 1% in Summit West to 20.8% in River West.
The Jackstraw near the Box Factory shows the pattern. Its 313 units began leasing in July 2025 and opened in mid-October, and by January 2026 Central Oregon Daily reported 250 still listed, with 8 weeks of free rent on offer.
Bend is not alone. Nationally, developers finished 608,000 multifamily units in 2024, the most since 1986, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. In June 2026, 39.7% of rentals on Zillow offered a concession, per Zillow's June 2026 rent report.
Why Single-Family Rentals Are Better Protected
The first wave did not knock houses down, and three reasons explain it.
The Income Gap
The City of Bend's own 2024 housing affordability analysis estimated a renter needs about $72,000 a year to afford a typical apartment and about $100,000 for a typical house. Since 2019, the same analysis found apartment rents up 22% while house rents rose 43%.
Most apartment renters cannot afford to move up, and most house renters do not move down to save a few hundred dollars. The two pools overlap less than people assume.
The Rents
Bend houses asked about $3,200 a month in August 2026, matching June's high for the year, per our Bend rental market report for August 2026. What tenants actually pay matters more. As of September 2026, per Legacy Property Management's market data, in-place house rent averaged about $2,804, up roughly 4% from a year earlier.
That puts the typical Bend house about $955 a month, or 52%, above the typical apartment on in-place rent.
Our Q2 2026 Bend report documented the two segments moving in opposite directions. That split has held. Zillow's mid-2026 forecast also favors houses, calling for 3.1% single-family rent growth in 2026 against 2% for apartments.
The Product
Where permits describe the building type, nearly every unit under construction is in a three-story walk-up or garden-style apartment building. Those buildings cannot offer a yard, an attached garage, real storage, or a quiet street. Families with kids and dogs keep choosing houses for those reasons.
Where Single-Family Owners Are Exposed
Protected does not mean immune. The pressure shows up in three places.
Smaller homes compete head-to-head. As of September 2026, a typical 2-bedroom house in Bend asks about $2,780, while a 2-bedroom apartment asks about $2,296 and a 3-bedroom apartment about $2,503. Free rent closes the rest of the gap.
A luxury 2-bedroom at the Jackstraw, net of 8 free weeks, costs about the same as a 2-bedroom house. The Bulletin's 2-bedroom average also includes some larger townhome units, so a standard 2-bedroom there nets out lower still. For a renter without kids or pets, that new unit is a real alternative.
Vacancies are running longer. On September 1, 2026, Bend houses averaged 48 days on market across 232 active listings, according to our August report. Fewer apartment renters moving up to houses means fewer applicants for each listing, and the gap between tenants stretches.
New buildings can cut rent freely. Under ORS 90.323, units with a first certificate of occupancy less than 15 years old are exempt from Oregon's rent cap. New apartments can drop rent to fill a building and raise it later without limit. A rental house whose first certificate of occupancy is 15 years old or more stays under the cap and cannot do the same on renewal.
Redmond Is Running the Other Way
Redmond has largely missed the apartment boom. Census permit data shows the city issued zero multi-unit permits from January through August 2026, against 206 single-family permits.
Redmond apartments are tight by comparison. As of September 2026, per Legacy Property Management's market data, they were about 95.4% occupied, down from 97.8% a year earlier, and leasing in about 35 days. New apartment leases are signing about 6.8% above the prior tenant's rent, and in-place apartment rent is up 2.8%.
The softness in Redmond is in houses, and it shows up in time rather than price. As of October 5, 2026, Zillow rental data put the average Redmond house rent at $2,590, up $135 from a year earlier. Those houses averaged 61 days on market, and only 44 were listed, so a handful of new listings can swing the monthly average by $100 or more.
Our Redmond rental market report for August 2026 tracked available house rentals doubling from 26 to 52 in a single month. Redmond owners should price to the days-on-market number, not the headline rent.
Redmond's renter base is a fraction of Bend's, so a single large apartment project there would move the numbers fast. Investors comparing the two cities should weigh that before buying.
A Playbook for Bend Single-Family Owners Before 2027
None of this calls for panic. It calls for doing the basics on time.
| Move | What to do | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Price to lease | List at or just below the neighborhood median on day one. | On a $2,800 home, a $200 cut costs $2,400 a year and pays for itself if it saves 26 vacant days. |
| Renew first | Offer strong tenants a moderate increase before the 2027 lease-ups begin. | At 48 days on market, a turnover runs close to $5,000 before make-ready. |
| Move end dates | Land lease expirations between April and July. | Spring and summer bring the deepest applicant pool and the fastest leasing. |
| Lengthen terms | Use 12 to 18-month terms on renewals signed this fall and winter. | A longer term carries a good tenant through the heaviest 2027 lease-up season. |
| Sell what apartments cannot | Market yards, garages, pet policies, 3+ bedrooms, and school zones. | Few of the walk-up and garden-style buildings under construction can match them. |
On pricing, our guide to how much rent to charge in Bend walks through a real comparable analysis. The daily cost of an empty $2,800 house is about $92, so every week of overpricing costs more than most owners expect.
On renewals, Oregon's Department of Administrative Services set the 2027 maximum rent increase at 10% on September 28, 2026, up from 9.5% in 2026. That is a ceiling, not a target. Our breakdown of the true cost of tenant turnover shows why a modest increase usually beats a maximum one, and our guide to Oregon's rent increase rules covers the 90-day notice and once-a-year limits.
On timing, our study of when to list a Bend rental shows how much faster homes lease in spring and summer. If a lease ends in December, a renewal is the moment to shift it.
One note for short-term rental owners: the City of Bend lets permit holders keep their short-term rental license while renting long-term on a lease of 12 months or more. That keeps your options open if summer bookings soften.
The Bottom Line on Bend Multi-Family Construction and Single-Family Rentals
Bend multi-family construction is set to add more than 1,500 apartments and multi-unit homes by the end of 2028, half of them in southeast Bend. Apartment owners will feel it most. Single-family rentals will feel it at the edges: smaller homes, dated finishes, winter vacancies, and overpriced listings.
The owners who come through cleanly will be the ones with a tenant who stays. In our portfolio, homes lease in 7 to 10 days and tenants stay 3 to 5 years, because we price to the market on day one and treat renewals as the most important lease of the year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will new apartments lower single-family rents in Bend?
Not broadly so far. Bend house asking rents hit $3,200 in August 2026 while apartment rents were flat. Expect pressure on 2-bedroom houses and townhomes, longer vacancies, and fewer move-up renters as the 1,503 units under construction open in 2027 and 2028.
When will Bend's new apartments open?
Most permits for the second wave were issued between mid-2025 and early 2026. Three-story walk-ups commonly take about 18 to 24 months to build, so most units should open during 2027 and 2028.
Does Oregon's rent cap apply to new apartments?
No. Under ORS 90.323, units with a first certificate of occupancy less than 15 years old are exempt from the cap, which is 10% for 2027. A house whose first certificate of occupancy is at least 15 years old remains covered.
Ready for More?
If you own a rental house in Bend, Redmond, or Sisters and want to know how the 2027 apartment wave affects your specific home, start with a free rental analysis. We will show you what your home should rent for, how it stacks up against the new buildings nearby, and when to time your next lease. Or reach out anytime for a straight conversation about your property.
Sources: Legacy Property Management analysis of City of Bend building permit records (Bend Housing Data Hub and open permit dataset), data through October 9, 2026; U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, place-level data for Bend and Redmond, January 2024 through August 2026; City of Bend 2024 housing affordability policy analysis; The Bulletin, November 2025 (CoStar vacancy) and August 2025 (Jackstraw rents); Central Oregon Daily, January 2026; Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, State of the Nation's Housing 2025; Zillow June 2026 Rent Report; Oregon Department of Administrative Services, 2027 maximum rent increase, September 28, 2026; ORS 90.323; City of Bend short-term rental licensing; Zillow Rentals data, Redmond houses, October 5, 2026; Legacy Property Management Bend and Redmond rental market reports, August and Q2 2026; Legacy Property Management market data and portfolio averages as of September 2026. Multi-unit housing includes duplexes, apartment buildings, and mixed-use residential. Figures are directional and will change as permits are finaled.
Kolby Knickerbocker
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