Buying in Brentwood-Darlington: the closest-in of Portland's entry-price neighborhoods, and what that costs per foot
The short version
Brentwood-Darlington sold 197 homes in the twelve months to late August 2026, at a $425,000 median and $358 a square foot. Six-month trend: +3.6%.
Both of those figures are the highest of Portland's four high-volume entry-price neighborhoods. Set against the others:
Neighborhood | Sales | Median | $/sq ft | 6-mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Powellhurst-Gilbert | 242 | $404,500 | $289 | +1.2% |
Hazelwood | 218 | $400,000 | $278 | +10.0% |
Brentwood-Darlington | 197 | $425,000 | $358 | +3.6% |
Centennial | 181 | $400,000 | $300 | +2.5% |
That $358 is the number to sit with. At the same money you are buying meaningfully less floor here than two miles east — roughly a quarter less per dollar than Powellhurst-Gilbert, and closer to a third less than Hazelwood.
What you are buying instead is position.
Source: Multnomah County recorded sales, September 2025 through August 2026, residential property classes and warranty deeds only. Pulled 14 September 2026; county recording lags closings by about three weeks, so the window effectively ends 24 August.
Where it is
Southeast Portland, south of Holgate and west of 82nd, between Woodstock and Lents. It is inside I-205, which none of the other three entry-price neighborhoods are, and that is the entire explanation for the price per foot.
The housing is older and smaller than the outer-east stock: 1920s through 1950s cottages and bungalows on modest lots, with infill in places. The streets are the thing visitors notice — a large share of Brentwood-Darlington was developed without the standard street improvements, so unpaved sections, gravel shoulders and open drainage are ordinary rather than exceptional here.
Reading the trade honestly
A buyer choosing between Brentwood-Darlington and the outer-east neighborhoods is choosing between space and distance, and the map puts a number on both sides of it.
If the commute is the constraint, being inside I-205 is worth real money and this is where the entry-price inventory is.
If the square footage is the constraint — a family that needs a fourth bedroom, someone who wants a garage and a yard — the same budget goes considerably further east, and the honest advice is to look east rather than to buy small close in and regret it.
That is a decision about your life rather than about the market, and the numbers do not make it for you. They just stop you making it by accident.
Three things to check before you write
The street itself. Unimproved streets are common here. Find out whether the street in front of the house is city-maintained, and whether there is any local improvement district assessment attached to the property. This is not exotic in Brentwood-Darlington and it has a cost.
Stormwater and drainage. Open ditches instead of curbs and pipes means drainage is handled at the property. Look at the grading around the house, and look at it in the rain if you can.
The sewer and the age of the systems. Housing stock from the 1920s to the 1950s at this price point usually has at least one deferred system. A sewer scope is the cheapest way to find the expensive one, and on anything pre-1970s the underground oil tank question is live.
Where this fits
Brentwood-Darlington sits directly between the close-in southeast neighborhoods and the outer-east ones, which is why it prices the way it does. Foster-Powell and Mt. Scott-Arleta are its immediate northern neighbors and the closest comparison. If the monthly number rather than the purchase price is what you are testing, what a Portland first-time buyer actually pays covers it.
Address-level street status, zoning and permit history is public: PortlandMaps.
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