4plexes Updates: Portland Metro 4plex Listings — Week of November 2, 2026

This week in one paragraph

A fourplex is a building with four homes in it. House hacking means living in one of those homes while the rent from the other three helps pay the mortgage. This week, the Portland metro fourplex list got smaller and the home loan interest rate moved down a little. The listings report run November 2, 2026 shows 18 active fourplex listings across the Portland metro area, plus 4 pending. No listing moved from active to pending this week, and 1 new listing appeared. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 7.24% for the week ending October 29, 2026, down from 7.32% for the week ending October 22, 2026, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey. For a house-hacking buyer, that is a small step in the right direction: the monthly payment on the same loan is a little lower than it was a week ago, but rates are still far above where they were a year ago, so the numbers on each building still have to work at today's rate, not at a hoped-for future rate.

One honest note about this week's count. Last week's set had 42 listings, and 21 of those listings no longer appear in this week's report. The report itself carries a footer that reads 40 records, while only 22 listings were actually shown in the report. We are reporting the 22 listings actually shown — 18 active and 4 pending — and not the footer number, and not last week's numbers as if they were new. If a building you were watching is gone from the list, ask your own real estate agent what happened to it; it may have sold, expired, or been taken off the market.

By city, the active listings break down as: Portland 7, Oregon City 3, West Linn 3, Beaverton 2, Tualatin 1, Hillsboro 1, St. Helens 1.

Active prices, lowest to highest

1. $675,000
2. $699,000
3. $830,000
4. $854,000
5. $934,900
6. $935,000
7. $949,000
8. $995,000
9. $999,999
10. $1,090,000
11. $1,200,000
12. $1,200,000
13. $1,250,000
14. $1,250,000
15. $1,295,000
16. $1,399,500
17. $1,450,000
18. $1,500,000

Lowest active: $675,000. Highest active: $1,500,000.

Info deemed reliable but none has been personally verified. Sources: Realtor, Zillow, Homes.

Prices only are listed here — addresses and MLS numbers are not republished. Please note: even though Andrew is a licensed broker in California, he cannot show these properties or give out listing information due to licensing law. For details on any listing, please call your own real estate agent. If you don't have one, contact us and Andrew can connect you with a locally licensed agent.

Mortgage news

Rates eased for a second week. Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released October 29, 2026, put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.24% for the week ending October 29, 2026, down from 7.32% for the week ending October 22, 2026. The 15-year fixed rate averaged 6.60%, down from 6.68%. Freddie Mac's chief economist, Sam Khater, said the 30-year rate had reached its lowest level that month and modestly boosted buying power. For a fourplex buyer, even a small drop matters because the loan is large: a lower rate means a lower monthly payment on the same price, which leaves more room for the rents to cover the payment. But the same survey shows how far rates have climbed: a year ago the 30-year rate averaged 6.17%. That gap is why running the numbers at today's rate, not last year's, is the honest test for any building. Source: Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey, October 29, 2026.

Daily rates told the same story, a touch higher. Mortgage News Daily's daily index finished October 29, 2026 at 7.29%, down from 7.35% on October 28, 2026. Daily rates move faster than the weekly survey, which averages a whole week of loan applications, so the daily number is a useful cross-check when rates are moving. The lesson for buyers is simple: a weekly average is a benchmark, not a quote. Your own rate depends on your credit, your down payment, the loan type, and the day you lock. Source: The Mortgage Minute, October 30, 2026.

The Federal Reserve held steady. On October 28, 2026, the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest-rate target at 3.75% to 4.00%, in a 10-2 vote, with two officials favoring a further increase. That benchmark is not the mortgage rate: home loan rates follow longer-term markets, mainly Treasury yields and mortgage-backed securities, more than the Fed's short-term rate. The Fed's next meeting is December 8-9, 2026, and traders are watching inflation data for clues about whether another increase comes then. For a fourplex buyer, the practical point is not to wait for a Fed meeting to rescue a deal — the payment has to work at the rate a lender actually offers you. Source: WRE News, October 28, 2026.

Borrowers came back a little when rates dipped. The Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey for the week ending October 23, 2026 showed total mortgage applications up 3.4% from the week before, with purchase applications up 4% and refinances up 3%. The average contract rate on a conforming 30-year fixed loan eased to 7.37%, from 7.41%. The year-over-year picture is still weak: purchase applications were 18% below the same week in 2025, and refinances were 61% lower. Adjustable-rate loans also grew, reaching 11.3% of applications, their highest share in more than a year, as buyers looked for a lower starting payment. For a house hacker, an adjustable-rate loan can cut the early payment, but the rate can rise later, so it only helps if the building still works when the rate adjusts. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association, October 28, 2026.

Forecasts still see rates above 7% through 2027. Fannie Mae's October outlook projected the 30-year rate averaging 7.4% in the fourth quarter of 2026 and 7.5% through the third quarter of 2027, while the Mortgage Bankers Association saw 7.3% at the end of 2026 easing to 7.1% by the fourth quarter of 2027. Forecasts are guesses, not promises, but both point the same way: buyers should plan for rates staying high, not for a quick return to the low rates of a few years ago. That makes the rent side of a fourplex — what the other three homes actually bring in — more important than hoping the loan gets cheaper. Source: WRE News, October 28, 2026.

Local real estate news

Portland-area rents are steady and vacancies are easing. The Fall 2026 Apartment Report from Multifamily NW, released at its October 13, 2026 luncheon, put the average vacancy rate for the Portland/Vancouver metro area at 6.3%, down from 7.3% in the fall of 2025, while average rents were essentially unchanged at $2.09 per square foot, versus $2.07 a year earlier. For a fourplex buyer, a falling vacancy rate is good news: it means homes are filling, which supports the rents you need to carry the mortgage. Flat rents, though, mean you should not count on big rent jumps to make a deal work — underwrite the rents that exist today. Source: Multifamily NW, Fall 2026 Apartment Report.

Asking rents showed a small comeback in August. Multi-Housing News' Portland Multifamily Report for October 2026 reported that advertised asking rent growth climbed 0.4% on a trailing three-month basis to $1,761, ahead of the 0.2% national figure and the metro's strongest performance since July 2024. Occupancy in stabilized properties slipped to 94.5%, down from a year earlier, a sign demand was still soft even as new construction slowed. Portland added 2,027 homes through August 2026, while starts fell 58.3%, and 3,313 homes were underway — less new supply coming should gradually ease pressure on landlords. For a small fourplex owner, fewer big new apartment buildings competing for tenants is a quiet tailwind. Source: Multi-Housing News, October 28, 2026.

Most new Portland-area housing is infill, not sprawl. Metro planners told Clackamas County officials on October 14, 2026 that redevelopment and infill produced roughly 60% of recent housing in the region, and that multi-unit housing accounted for about 47% of new homes. Areas added to the urban growth boundary have underperformed because of infrastructure and financing barriers. For fourplex buyers, that pattern matters: the region is building more small multi-unit homes inside existing neighborhoods, which is exactly the kind of stock a house hacker buys — but financing and infrastructure limits mean supply stays tight, so well-priced fourplexes do not sit long. Source: Metro review, October 14, 2026.

Big investors are still buying Portland apartments. CBRE announced on October 15, 2026 the $40.4 million sale of 10th @ Hoyt, a 178-unit community in Portland's Pearl District, to a California-based family office. Large sales like this do not set fourplex prices directly, but they show that professional money still believes in Portland rental demand even at today's rates. A fourplex buyer is fishing in a different pond, but the same water: strong renter demand in walkable neighborhoods. Source: Connect CRE, October 15, 2026.

The wider Portland market is more negotiable than it was. September data for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area showed a median listing price of about $587,750, down about 1.9% from a year ago, with roughly 8,984 active listings, up 6.9% year over year, and a median of 66 days on market. About 31.6% of Portland listings had a price reduction, compared with 20.8% nationally. That is a buyer's opening: sellers are cutting prices more often here, which is worth remembering when you look at a fourplex that has sat for months. Source: Living Room Realty, Portland market, October 2026.

Laws pertaining to real estate financing

A new federal order targets mortgage insurance costs. On October 22, 2026, the president signed an executive order titled "Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People." It directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency to build a pilot program under which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would periodically check home values using automated valuation models and proactively cancel mortgage insurance once a borrower's equity clears the threshold based on current market value. It also asks FHFA to turn its title insurance waiver pilot into an ongoing nationwide program for eligible refinances. Important limits: the order itself changes no rate and no payment today. The mortgage-insurance pilot would apply only to new loans made after the pilot starts, and the title waiver applies to refinances, not new purchases. Details, qualifying loans, and start dates are still to be set by FHFA. For a fourplex buyer putting less than 20% down, automatic cancellation of mortgage insurance someday could lower the monthly payment — but do not buy a building counting on it until the pilot exists. Source: The Brief Lens, October 31, 2026.

A housing supply law became law in July. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed Congress in late June 2026 with large bipartisan majorities and became law automatically on July 11, 2026. It creates an FHA small-dollar mortgage pilot for homes under $100,000 and raises the maximum purchase price for HOME program homeownership assistance from 95% to 110% of the area median purchase price. It contains no direct tax credit and no down-payment grant. For fourplex buyers, the honest takeaway is supply-side: more small homes financed and more assistance headroom could help the neighborhoods fourplexes sit in, but this law does not hand a buyer cash at closing. Source: Housing Relief 2026, October 2026.

FHA changed 14 rules in June — but not the down payment. On June 23, 2026, HUD announced fourteen policy changes to the FHA single-family program, published as Mortgagee Letters covering Limited 203(k) renovation loan draws, appraisal field reviews, a disclosure form, lender approval and quality-control rules, and loss mitigation for borrowers who fall behind. The changes did not lower FHA's minimum down payment or its mortgage insurance premiums. The 203(k) piece is the most relevant to a fourplex buyer: a renovation loan can finance repairs into the purchase loan, which matters when an older fourplex needs work. Check with an FHA lender whether a given building and renovation plan qualify. Source: Coltrain, FHA rule changes 2026.

Programs worth mentioning

Salem first-time buyer help — fits a 2-4 unit purchase. The City of Salem's First-Time Homebuyer Downpayment Assistance Loan Program offers no-interest, deferred-payment loans toward down payment and closing costs on a condo, single-family, or multi-family home of 2-4 units. It matches the buyer's down payment up to $6,500, plus $1,000 more for buyers who complete a certified homebuyer counseling course before closing, for a total of $7,500. The loan is repaid in full on sale, transfer, or when the buyer stops living in the home. Income limits apply. This one is labeled honestly: it fits an owner-occupied fourplex purchase in Salem, subject to the program's income and property rules. Source: FHA.com, City of Salem program summary.

Oregon state help — fit for a fourplex unverified. Oregon Housing and Community Services runs Flex Lending products, including a below-market first mortgage paired with down-payment assistance, and a Down Payment Assistance program described as up to $60,000 or 20% of the purchase price for first-time and first-generation buyers at or below 100% of area median income. The City of Portland's Down Payment Assistance Loan offers up to $80,000-$100,000 in deferred-payment help for buyers within Portland city limits, with forgiveness beginning at year 15 and completing at year 30. Whether any of these will finance a specific fourplex depends on the program's property rules and the lender — we label their fourplex fit as unverified until a program administrator or approved lender confirms it for a 2-4 unit purchase. Do not assume a program built for a single-family home covers a fourplex. Source: SuperMoney, Down Payment Assistance Programs in Oregon, 2026.

New FHA down-payment help from Zillow Home Loans — fit for a fourplex unverified. On October 28, 2026, Zillow Home Loans launched a forgivable FHA down-payment assistance option in 43 states and Washington, D.C., offering up to 3.5% of the lower of purchase price or appraised value as a zero-interest second loan, forgiven after five years of on-time payments and continued owner occupancy. Borrowers need a credit score of at least 640 and an FHA first mortgage from Zillow Home Loans, and FHA mortgage insurance still applies. Oregon is not on the excluded list (Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia), but the announcement did not give a state-by-state breakdown of property restrictions, so fourplex fit is unverified — ask the lender directly whether a 2-4 unit owner-occupied purchase qualifies before counting on it. Source: WRE News, October 28, 2026.

Oregon's NextStep loan — check the property rules. Oregon Housing and Community Services' NextStep product, with its product summary last updated August 15, 2026, pairs a first mortgage with a forgivable or repayable second mortgage for down payment and closing-cost help, with a maximum income limit of $125,000 and homebuyer education required for first-time buyers. Borrowers may not own other residential property at closing. As with the other state programs, fourplex fit is unverified from the published summary — confirm with an approved OHCS lender whether a 2-4 unit home qualifies. Source: Oregon Housing and Community Services, NextStep product summary.

What this means this week

Rates dipped, but they are still high. The list shrank, but 18 fourplexes are still for sale across the metro, from $675,000 to $1,500,000. The smart move this week is the boring one: run each building through the house-hack calculator at today's rate — last week 7.32%, this week 7.24% — using the rents that exist today, not the rents you hope for, and talk to your own real estate agent before you act on any listing. If you do not have an agent, contact us and we can connect you with a locally licensed agent.

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