The Northgate complex of apartments being constructed between East McAndrews Road and the Northgate Marketplace in Medford.

New apartment construction in Medford is on a roll this year.

A total of 734 units are slated to be built throughout the city by the end of 2024, many of them targeting middle- or lower-income households.

“This is a huge amount of apartments being built right now,” said Sam Barnum, Medford building director.

Based on projects that were in the planning phase in 2023, seven different apartment complexes represent a $41,125,772 total investment.

By comparison, in 2020, Medford only saw a $1.5-million investment in new apartments by developers. In 2021, developers invested just over $10 million. In 2022, it was almost $11 million.

With interest rates hovering around 7% — too high for many first-time homebuyers — Barnum said he expects to see more apartments in the future.

Apartment construction is outpacing that of new single-family houses, and is a welcome sign after the 2020 Almeda Fire destroyed almost 2,500 residences in the valley.

Single-family homes had averaged about 15 a month in 2022, but in the past six months they increased to an average of 27.5 a month.

In February, 36 new single-family residential applications were received by the city, according to Barnum.

The apartment units under construction will appeal to a range of income levels, but mostly in the low- to middle-income categories.

Orchard Homes on Orchard Home Drive will offer 98 units and is expected to open this summer.

Prescott Gardens near North Medford High features 98 units and should also open by summer.

Both Orchard Homes and Prescott are being built by the Jackson County Housing Authority and are being offered to those within 60% to 80% of the average median income range, or $39,388.20 to $53,317.60, based on statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The 44-unit Summit Gardens is anticipated to open by fall and will be available to those within 60% to 80% of the median income range.

The 84-unit Creekside Village on Sky Park Drive should open by summer and offer market-rate rents.

The 48-unit Coker Butte Apartments are expected to open by summer and offer market-rate rents.

Phase 1 of the 192-unit Northgate complex has targeted a fall opening. Phase 2 of the 180-unit Northgate complex should also open by fall.

Both phases of the Northgate complex are appealing to those within 80% to 120% of the median income range.

Northgate would offer one- or two-bedroom units, with rents starting around $1,200 per month.

Milo Smith, whose family owns PMCI Inc., has built more than 1,200 multifamily units primarily in Medford and Central Point.

He said that high interest rates will likely dampen the ability of builders to take on new, large projects going forward.

“A lot of the apartments under construction were planned when interest rates were low,” he said. “Now we’re looking at 6.5% to 7%.”

High interest rates can make it difficult to pencil out a project, he said.

His company is just starting a project off West Main Street near Bi-Mart that will add another 300 units in Medford over the next five years.

The first phase of Oak Grove Estates will have 58 units in three-story buildings, 20 of which should be completed by the end of the year.

His company has also been working to build 400 units at Twin Creeks in Central Point.

Smith said his family started PMCI in 1997 to build single-family residential but shifted to multifamily in 2000.