Cambridge Apartment Rental Market Report 2022
Thus far, 2022 has been good to the apartment rental market in Cambridge, MA. After 18 months of rental supply saturation and price shrinkage caused by COVID, the market in Cambridge has turned a corner. Now, availability of Cambridge apartments is on par with pre-pandemic levels and the average rent price is closing in on its all-time high set in April of 2020. Even more impressive, the real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) in Cambridge hit an all time low of 0.50% last month, indicating that renter demand is outpacing apartment supply at the current moment.
Cambridge Apartment Supply Metrics
The current RTVR in Cambridge is 0.62%, up slightly from its all time low set late last month. That is 46.09% lower than the pre-COVID RTVR in mid-May 2019 (1.15%). This is a remarkable recovery considering the vacancy rate hit an unprecedented 8.27% in October 2020. There are still 3 months ahead of us until we reach late August, when vacancies reach their annual low point historically. So, it’s all but assured that RTVR will continue to push to new all-time lows.
Best Places to Find Single Family Homes in Boston
It’s no secret that there’s a severe shortage of single family homes in Greater Boston. Due to growing demand and a lack of developable land in the metro area, most new development projects have been devoted to larger multi-unit condo buildings. As a result, prices for single family homes have increased by 60% over the past five years. The current 1-year median sale price for a single family home in the city of Boston is $770K.
Seeing data like that might discourage buyers who want to own a house in the metro area. Thankfully, a deeper dive into MLS data shows that there are still some places in Greater Boston where you can find a decent inventory of single-family homes for sale. There are even some neighborhoods where the median sale price is still under $500K. Here are some of the best areas in Boston to look for single family properties by quantity of listings and median sales price.
Medford Rent Price Surpasses All Time High In March
Medford’s average rent price has just surpassed its previous all-time high this month. The current average rent price of $2,158 eclipses the previous record of $2,156 set in July of 2020 after stagnating for 18 months during the pandemic. With apartment occupancy nearing all-time highs in Medford, it looks like 2022 will be a banner year for Medford’s apartment rental market.
Medford’s recent rent price growth comes as the neighborhood approaches record high occupancy. The current vacancy rate for Medford apartments sits at 0.67%, close to the all-time low of 0.62% set in March of 2020. Considering there are 5 months left until vacancy hits its cyclical low, that number will continue to push to unprecedented lows as we approach September.
Apartment availability, another key supply metric, is currently 2.8% in Medford. Compared to its pre-pandemic level in March 2019, that is 1.15% lower indicating that the rental market in Medford has never been tighter. Both availability and vacancies metrics suggest that Medford’s average rent price will continue to rise throughout 2022.
Boston Average Rent Price Breaks It's All Time High
Boston Pads average rent price has just surpassed its all-time high, according to the most recent apartment data from Boston Pads. The current average rent price for non-luxury apartments in Boston is $2,648. The previous record was set in early June of 2020, when the
average rent price hit $2,646 before experiencing a downturn as a result of the pandemic-induced rental supply glut.
It appears that the relief in rent prices was short-lived in Boston. Apartment prices began to trend back upwards in October of last year. This coincided with the return of students to most of Boston’s largest campuses after shutting down during the 2020-2021 academic year. Since then, apartment availability and vacancy rates have hit historic lows as the current rental supply has struggled to catch up to the restored demand.
Prices for Boston apartments have accelerated particularly for larger units. The average rent price for 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom apartments hit all time highs in consecutive weeks in late January and early February this year and have continued to climb since. Boston’s 5 bedroom average rent price hit its all time high during the first week of March this year, while 2 bedroom units just exceeded its record high this week.
Boston’s Real Estate Market Isn’t Done Yet
The Boston Metro’s median home price has shown some signs of decelerating since mid 2021. After a decade of record price growth, Greater Boston’s 1-year median sale price sits at $681K as per Zillow’s most recent data. That marks a 2.29% increase in median price compared to the previous year. Compare that to the 16.03% growth recorded in the previous year, it may appear that Boston’s real estate market is leveling off.
While there are certainly signs that the market may be cooling, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Boston’s housing market growth will continue in 2022.
VC Funding Flowing To Boston
Quincy MA Real Estate Investment Scorecard
As the price of real estate has soard all around Boston in the past decade, prices for homes for sale in Quincy have remained relatively reasonable. Out of the 48 neighborhoods in metro Boston, Quincy ranks in the top 10 most affordable for single family, condo, and multi family properties. Quincy’s market held strong during the pandemic as demand has risen for housing in suburban areas with easy access to the city.
As a result, few neighborhoods have as much upside as Quincy in terms of investment properties. In this article, we’ll analyze the average cap rates and net operating income (NOI) that different types of properties would yield in Quincy. We’ll base these estimates on the current median sales price, homeowner’s insurance, property tax rate and average rent prices.
Will Austin's Growth Endure 2022?
It’s no secret that the city of Austin, TX has been rapidly ascending in recent years. Texas has seen a huge influx of new residents, and no other Texas metro has seen a bigger population boom than Austin. As a result, last year Austin tallied the 4th largest increase in median sales price and the 7th largest average rent increase out of the top 100 metros in the US.
So why are people flocking to this North Texas hub? Well, there are a few reasons.
Newton MA Average Property NOI
Newton’s investment property market is a tough nut to crack for many investors. Newton real estate prices are north of a million for single family ($1.6M) and multi family ($1.1M) properties, and condo pricing is not far off at $910K. Looking at pricing like that on its own is enough to turn off any investor. However, there are still opportunities to be had in Newton.
Average NOI in Newton by Property Type
If we isolate projected NOI figures by property type, we won’t find many areas of opportunity related to single family or condos for sale in Newton.
South End Apartment Rental Market Report 2022
We are into the fifth month of 2022, and demand for South End apartments is stronger than it’s ever been. Following a year and a half of market uncertainty, demand came roaring back in the latter half of 2021. By January of this year, apartment availability in South End had contracted to an all-time low of 0.40%. As of May 1, apartment occupancy has hit an astonishing 99.9% in Boston’s South End.
Record Low Vacancies in South End Boston
The most recent apartment data for South End shows a staggeringly low real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) of 0.10%. While South End is no stranger to low vacancy rates, the neighborhood has never recorded an RTVR this low. Considering that the RTVR doesn’t hit its annual low until late August, it’s possible that South End could achieve 100% occupancy before the end of the leasing season.
Boston's Rental Market Starts Year In Deep Freeze
We’re less than 2 months into 2022, and the apartment rental market in Boston has yet to come out of hibernation. Historically, Boston’s rental market cycle begins to kickstart in the first few weeks of January as students return for the second semester. We typically see apartment availability start the year between 2-3%, and it usually doubles in the first two months of the year.
That is not the case so far in 2022. We began the year with record low apartment availability at 1.67%. Since then, availability of Boston apartments has increased to 2.81% in the city, which is still well below its pre-COVID level in February of 2020 (4.03%). Even vacancies are down by similar margins. The current vacancy rate of 0.63% is half that of its February 2020 level (1.28%).
