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Politicians, economists, housing advocates and developers have come to a broad agreement that more housing is needed in Oregon. A new report from ECONorthwest attempts to measure the scope of the problem.

The state underbuilt by 155,000 housing units from 2000 to 2015, according to the report. If that number of homes were built in Oregon during the next 20 years, home prices would be 5.5 percent lower than if the homes were not built, the report found.

鈥淥regon is seriously behind 鈥� providing housing at all levels of affordability,鈥� Mayor Ted Wheeler said at an event Tuesday to mark the report’s release. 鈥淭his report shows we have a lot of work to do.鈥�

Wheeler called the report 鈥渧ery depressing鈥� in its depiction of the housing deficit.

The report recommends employing some of the strategies the city of Portland already is, including promotion of so-called 鈥渕iddle鈥� housing such as duplexes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

Other recommendations include:

• changing impact fees to be based on a per-acre or per-square-foot basis, instead of per unit (this would improve the feasibility of high-density projects, the report stated);
• holding cities accountable to meeting existing permitting timelines and clear and objective development approval standards; and
• allowing high-density zoning near high-capacity transit station areas.

鈥淲e need a Marshall Plan for housing,鈥� said Mike Kingsella, an author of the report and executive director of Oregon LOCUS, a trade group for developers.

Local governments would garner a $13 billion net benefit if the 155,000 units were built, based on projections of property taxes, system development charges and other revenue sources, said Michael Wilkerson, an economist and partner at ECONorthwest.

Joe Cortright, director of CityLab, questioned the underlying assumption that more housing of any type is needed. Too many large, suburban homes are sitting with empty bedrooms, he said.

鈥淚 don’t think we face a shortage of housing so much as a shortage of cities and great urban neighborhoods,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ig, single-family houses in the suburbs are not meeting the housing needs of people who are more interested in living in urban neighborhoods.鈥�

The report’s release came three weeks before the Nov. 6 election, when Portland-area voters will decide the fate of Metro’s $653 million housing bond measure. Also, Measure 102, a statewide bid, would allow affordable housing projects to mix private and public funding.

Both measures would help address the dire need for affordable housing, advocates said.

鈥淚 really, truly, deeply believe that we can solve this problem together,鈥� said Alison McIntosh, deputy director at Neighborhood Partnerships, a Portland-based nonprofit.

The report is part of Up for Growth Oregon, a pro-housing group that includes developers such as BRIDGE Housing, Cairn Pacific, Holland Partner Group and nonprofits such as 1,000 Friends of Oregon and Oregon Smart Growth.

The group demonstrates developers and housing advocates such as McIntosh can find common ground, said Noel Johnson, principal at Cairn Pacific.

鈥淎t the end of the day, her goals are my goals,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he question is how to achieve it.鈥�