Boston Apartment Rental Market Report 2022

Looking back at the last two years of rental market data, it’s safe to say that few metro markets have experienced the same level of upheaval and subsequent recovery as Boston. In our 2021 Boston rental market report, we detailed an unprecedented increase in rental supply numbers that occurred as a result of COVID-19. Roughly one year later, the data suggests our Boston apartment market has not only corrected itself, but it’s possibly even stronger than it was prior to the pandemic.

Boston Apartment Supply Metrics Sink Below Pre-Pandemic Levels

Both of Boston’s key apartment supply metrics, real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) and real-time availability rate (RTAR), have sunk below pre-pandemic levels (-36.36% and -40.00% from January 2020 respectively). Comparing these same metrics to January 2021, when we were nearing the worst of the COVID-induced supply glut, we see that availability of Boston apartments has decreased by -67.20%. The vacancy rate has dropped by a staggering -86.88% in the same time span. What a difference a year makes.