5 Boston Neighborhoods Where Rent Decreased The Most Since COVID

https://m.bostonpads.com/api/realtime-Boston’s apartment rental market troubles were well documented throughout the pandemic. The rental supply fallout that occurred as a result of remote learning was biblical, but not necessarily a surprise in a city where more than half of renters are college students. When campuses shuddered in Fall 2020, so did the off-campus housing market. Consequently, the availability rate for Boston apartments hit an unprecedented 13.4%.

Now that students in Boston have resumed in-class learning, the market has bounced back as if COVID never happened. Now apartment availability is even tighter than it was in January 2020, prior to the pandemic hitting us. Still, for a short while there, it was actually a renter’s market in Boston. During the carnage of 2020, landlords desperately slashed prices and offered incentives to try to spur demand in a market that was marked absent for the year. This was especially true in the neighborhoods that are closest to local universities.

So because apartment inventory has contracted back to its typical slim levels, renters can expect those incentives to dry up as we progress further into 2022. However, those who act early this year can still find some good deals on apartments. There are some neighborhoods where rents are down compared to pre-COVID levels. Here are the 5 neighborhoods where rent has decreased the most compared to January 2020.