Boston’s real estate market is one of the fastest growing housing markets in the nation over the past decade. Median sales prices have consistently grown by near double-digit margins since 2015 thanks to a rapidly growing local population and a shortage of single-family homes. As a result, homes for sale in Boston tend to get snatched up quickly when they hit the market.

The median days on market for Boston real estate is 75 days over the past 12 months. That means the average sale in Boston from when the listing hits the market to when the closing occurs is around 2 and a half months. That is more than 20 days longer than the national median days on market, which is 53.5 days during the same time span.

If we analyze that same figure by neighborhood, we can see where homes stay on the market longest in Boston compared to others. Properties tend to sell very quickly in Cambridge (61 days), Medford (61 days), and Roslindale (62 days) compared to other areas. There are 11 neighborhoods where the median days on market is below 70 days:

Boston’s average rent price has been steadily on the rise since the housing crisis of 2008. Prior to the pandemic, rent prices were at record highs thanks to increasing enrollment at local universities and soaring real estate prices. However, rent prices did find themselves in the red in 2021 for the first time in over a decade thanks to widespread vacancies that hit the rental market as a result of remote learning.

Thankfully, like remote learning, the apartment supply glut was a temporary phenomenon and the market has corrected itself. Now, availability percentages for Boston apartments are even lower than they were before COVID. Average rent prices in Boston now compared to January 2021 are back in black, so the market was able to avoid 2 straight years of rent losses.

Still, some neighborhoods fared better than others over the past 2 years since COVID came to town. There was a temporary shift in renter demand in 2020 where vacancy rates and supply numbers were much tighter in the City’s outer markets compared to the areas near Downtown, and that may have had an impact on pricing in those areas. Here are the 4 neighborhoods where prices have increased the most.

It’s no secret that prices for homes in Boston have skyrocketed over the past decade. Since 2012, prices have nearly doubled in terms of median sales prices, and now it’s hard to find a decent home listed in a good neighborhood under $500K. In fact, the median sales price for single family homes for sale in Boston is $772,925 over the past 12 months, placing Boston among the most expensive real estate markets in the country.

Still, there are many ways to analyze housing markets and median sales prices. If you dig into the data a little deeper, there may be areas of opportunities that others miss. In Boston in particular, a short supply of single family homes and lack of developable land has led to a massive surge in condo development around the city. In modern times, it’s much easier to find a condo for sale in Boston than it is a single family home in most cases. And those who are open to owning a condo will see a much more reasonable median sales price ($698,546) compared to single-family homes.

Being home to the Boston Red Sox and several large universities, Fenway’s apartment rental market is usually in high demand. That all changed in 2020, when remote learning sent apartment availability through the roof in Boston’s student enclaves. Fenway’s real-time availability rate (RTAR) ballooned to an unprecedented 18.96% in December 2020. A year later, that figure has contracted to 0.88%. So to recap 2021, we began the year with record high apartment availability, and we’re ending it at an all-time low.

When you make a trip to Mission Hill, you see many triple-decker multi-family homes and brick row houses. The area here is known to have a thriving rental market thanks to its close proximity and easy access to many of Boston’s largest universities. In the last 18 months, since the COVID-19 situation brought with it remote learning, the rental market has gone on a roller coaster ride.

Allston’s apartment rental market began 2021 in chaos. Apartment availability at that time, which historically hovers around 1-2% in Allston during the new year, was at 10% in January as remote learning had decimated the market for off-campus housing. By March, before schools had announced reopening, that figure had soared an astounding 27.4%. Since then, students have returned to Boston and demand for Allston apartments has come roaring back. Now, Allston’s apartment supply numbers are slimmer than they were even before the pandemic.

Allston has historically been one of Boston’s more modest housing markets. Located close to some of Boston Metro’s largest universities, the area is known to be a student enclave where coeds can escape the high rent prices that are typical of Fenway, Symphony, and South End. Still, average rents for Allston apartments have been on the rise in recent years as off-campus housing demand has increased along with student enrollment.

If you or a loved one are moving to the area, you may be wondering whether Allston is still a viable neighborhood for an investment in real estate or if you’d be better off renting an apartment. The following analysis will break down the average NOI (Net Operating Income) of Allston condos and single family homes by comparing the current average rent price with up to date median sale prices from MLS.

When you think of Brookline, you think of beautiful Victorian architecture in a beautiful dense suburban setting. Even some of the newer buildings in Brookline have a hint of old school elegance in their design. Widely considered Boston’s best suburb, Brookline apartments are highly sought after and rent is priced accordingly. Though it is not a very affordable city to live in, the metro area’s rapidly growing tech industry has kept demand for housing high in Brookline. As a result, Brookline is one of the few neighborhoods outside of the city where the average rent price exceeds that of Boston.

The real estate market in Newton MA is well known for its beautiful homes and sprawling estates, so it should come as no surprise that buying a home here is not cheap. The median price for single family homes for sale in Newton is $1.59M over the past 365 days. That makes Newton the 8th most expensive place to purchase a home in Metro Boston and similar to buying a home in Charlestown ($1.33M) or Bay Village ($1.65M).

Despite the exorbitant pricing, properties have been flying off the shelves in Newton. The 1,115 residential real estate sales recorded in Newton over the past year was the second most in Boston behind only Quincy. There are currently 80 active Newton listings for sale in MLS which is well above the current average for all neighborhoods. The high volume of sales in Newton can certainly be explained by the sheer size of the area in relation to other Metro neighborhoods. However that doesn’t explain why buyers flocked to one of of Boston’s most expensive markets during the tail end of a pandemic.

One theory is the typical buyer profile in Boston is changing. A huge influx of venture capital to Boston and Cambridge in recent years has turned the blue collar Boston of old into a white collar tech hub. Combine that with the shortage of single-family homes for sale in Boston, Newton has become even more attractive to buyers for its open spaces and big back yards.

Being an iconic neighborhood of Boston that boasts a large population, South Boston has always been one of Boston’s top performing rental markets. Though South Boston was not totally unaffected by the disruptions in the rental market owing to the COVID-19 situation, Southie has emerged from the pandemic even stronger than it was before. Compared to December 2019, availability for South Boston apartments has dropped by -47.97% while vacancies are down -57.35%.