Record high rent prices and record low inventory is the trend for Boston’s most expensive apartment rental market, Back Bay. Average rent price for Back Bay apartments is currently at a record high of $3,998 and will pass the $4,000 soon. Real-time availability rate (RTAR) peaked at 2.61% in early April, marking the second consecutive year that apartment availability failed to surpass 3% at the seasonal peak. In years past, that figure would typically peak well above 4%, but now the market is tighter than ever. Here are the trends driving Back Bay’s apartment rental market.
Unprecedented Rental Supply Shortage in Back Bay

The current real-time availability rate (RTAR) in Back Bay is 1.71%. That figure is down -3.93% year-over-year and down -57.99% from its pre-pandemic level in May 2019 (4.07%). Back Bay’s RTAR hit an all-time low in October of last year when it bottomed out at 0.18%.

The real estate market in Mission Hill has started 2023 in a deep chill as property sales decline city-wide. Mission Hill has recorded just 3 residential property transactions over the past 3 months. That ties the lowest 3 month total in the past five years of MLS data. The 30 day median sale price also failed to eclipse $1M for 3 months in a row for the first time since mid 2021. Let’s take a closer look at the trends driving Mission Hill’s real estate market.
Total Real Estate Sales in Mission Hill

Since November, Mission Hill has recorded just one property sale in each of the last 3 months. Given its small geographical area, total residential sales for Mission Hill real estate typically average around 3-4 per month. Still, just 3 residential sales over a 3 month period is the lowest rolling 3 month total since late 2019. We can make some fair assumptions that that our misguided war on fossil fuels and bizarre fiscal policies that helped ignite runaway inflation and subsequent high interest rates could be a strong reason for this steep decline in sales volume. Historically, inflation almost always creates uncertainty in the marketplace which slows down velocity of spending. The question we need to start asking ourselves is how long this will last.

Record high rent prices and record low inventory is the trend for Boston’s most expensive apartment rental market, Back Bay. Average rent price for Back Bay apartments is currently at a record high of $3,998 and will pass the $4,000 soon. Real-time availability rate (RTAR) peaked at 2.61% in early April, marking the second consecutive year that apartment availability failed to surpass 3% at the seasonal peak. In years past, that figure would typically peak well above 4%, but now the market is tighter than ever. Here are the trends driving Back Bay’s apartment rental market.
Unprecedented Rental Supply Shortage in Back Bay

The current real-time availability rate (RTAR) in Back Bay is 1.71%. That figure is down -3.93% year-over-year and down -57.99% from its pre-pandemic level in May 2019 (4.07%). Back Bay’s RTAR hit an all-time low in October of last year when it bottomed out at 0.18%.

Over the past decade, Boston has emerged as one of the nation’s most expensive rental markets. During that time, Boston’s local economy has transformed from the rugged blue-collar town of the twentieth century to a white-collar tech hub of the twenty-first century. The population has boomed over this time span, increasing demand for housing in Boston’s core areas. This has caused rent prices to climb so much that Boston overtook San Francisco as the nation’s second most expensive rental market last year.

If you plan on renting an apartment in Boston, be prepared to pay top dollar. You can find more affordable rents away from Boston’s downtown neighborhoods. These areas are situated in the south and west of the city. In general, the closer you get to Boston’s city center, the higher rent prices you will encounter. If you’re wondering which neighborhoods have the highest rents, look no further. These are the most expensive neighborhoods to rent an apartment in Boston in 2023.

Over the past few decades, Greater Boston has recorded some of the nation’s fastest rent price growth in the country. Thanks to increasing enrollment at local universities and a growing population, rent prices have skyrocketed in many of metro Boston’s neighborhoods. This trend has affected the entire metropolitan area, not just the city of Boston.

Renters can find more affordable apartments in the suburbs away from the city center in some areas. However, some of Boston’s suburbs are in very high demand and are every bit as expensive as Boston proper. In this article, we’ll have a look at the most expensive Boston suburbs to rent an apartment.

The real estate market in Mission Hill has started 2023 in a deep chill as property sales decline city-wide. Mission Hill has recorded just 3 residential property transactions over the past 3 months. That ties the lowest 3 month total in the past five years of MLS data. The 30 day median sale price also failed to eclipse $1M for 3 months in a row for the first time since mid 2021. Let’s take a closer look at the trends driving Mission Hill’s real estate market.
Total Real Estate Sales in Mission Hill

Since November, Mission Hill has recorded just one property sale in each of the last 3 months. Given its small geographical area, total residential sales for Mission Hill real estate typically average around 3-4 per month. Still, just 3 residential sales over a 3 month period is the lowest rolling 3 month total since late 2019. We can make some fair assumptions that that our misguided war on fossil fuels and bizarre fiscal policies that helped ignite runaway inflation and subsequent high interest rates could be a strong reason for this steep decline in sales volume. Historically, inflation almost always creates uncertainty in the marketplace which slows down velocity of spending. The question we need to start asking ourselves is how long this will last.

The apartment rental market in Boston’s North End has begun 2023 like many other metro Boston neighborhoods: with record high rent prices and record low inventory. Availability for North End apartments is down from March 2022, which happened to be an all-time low for March at the time. As a result of the lean inventory, prices have been climbing in North End since the pandemic subsided, and now sit at record highs. Here are the trends driving the North End apartment rental market in 2023.
Low Supply of Apartments in Boston’s North End

The current real-time availability rate (RTAR) of apartments in North End is 6.04%. Historic North End rental data shows that apartment availability is down -7.93% YOY. RTAR typically peaks in March in the North End, so it is unlikely that apartment availability will rise above the 7% mark in 2023. It’s worth noting that in September of last year, North End’s RTAR hit an all-time low of 0.62%.

The apartment rental market in Charlestown Boston will present challenges to renters in 2023. The most recent rental data for Charlestown shows that vacancies are currently at a historic low while apartment availability is down by ~25% compared to a year ago. Renters looking for apartments in Charlestown will find fewer options than in years past, much like what renters are experiencing throughout Greater Boston. Here are the main trends driving Charlestown’s rental market in 2023.
Record Low Apartment Inventory in Charlestown

The current real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) for Charlestown apartments is 0.15%. That is the lowest RTVR on record, and amazingly that figure has hovered at that level for the better part of the past 9 months. Vacancy rates have typically always been lower in Charlestown compared to the rest of Boston, but 0.15% is unprecedented in this neighborhood.

South End’s apartment rental market peaked early in 2023. Availability for South End apartments hit its yearly high mark in February of this year and has been falling since. Considering that apartment availability typically peaks in April in the South End, it’s an ominous sign that inventory continues to struggle to keep pace with demand for apartments in Boston’s South End.

As a result, the average rent price in the South End is up by double digit margins since last year and hit an all-time high a few weeks ago in March. Here are the main trends driving South End’s apartment rental market in 2023.

Scarce would be the word describing the Brighton apartment rental market thus far in 2023. As the market enters into peak season, both real-time availability rate (RTAR) and real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) for Brighton apartments are down by -29.22% and -62.50% respectively year-over-year. As a result, Brighton’s average rent price continues to hit new record highs with each passing month. Here are the main trends driving the Brighton MA apartment rental market in 2023.