Consumer Price Index for Shelter on the Rise in Portland-Salem MSA

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the Portland-Salem area grew 1.7 percent between the first half of 2015 and the first half of 2016, faster than the U.S. increase of 1.1 percent.

Portland’s recent focus on price increases in the housing market is reflected in the
Consumer Price Index’s shelter measure. The cost of shelter increased more (6.7%) in the Portland-Salem area than the U.S. city average (3.3%). Shelter is about one-third of the CPI - All Items, which helped push Portland's CPI above the U.S.

Shelter includes rent of primary residence, lodging away from home, and owner’s equivalent rent of primary residence. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rental equivalence measures the change in the implicit rent, which is the amount a homeowner would pay to rent or would earn from renting.

In contrast, the Portland-Salem area had little change in prices for food. The over-the-year growth rate fell from 0.7 percent in the second half of 2015 to -0.4 percent in the first half of 2016. The over-the-year growth rate for the U.S. city average had a relatively moderate decline from 1.4 percent in the second half of 2015 to 0.7 percent in the first half of 2016.

Gas and oil prices decreased drastically over the year. The U.S. saw a drop of 16 percent in gas and oil prices, while Portland-Salem area saw a drop of 17.4 percent.