Most Expensive Suburbs to Rent An Apartment in Boston
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.
2023 Mission Hill Sales Market Report
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.
2023 North End Apartment Rental Market Report
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%.
2023 Charlestown Apartment Rental Market Report
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.
2023 South End Apartment Rental Market Report
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.
2023 Brighton Apartment Rental Market Report
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.
Average Rent Price for Boston Apartments Surpasses $3,000
As we approach the half-way point of 2023, Boston’s apartment rental market has reached a new milestone. The average rent price for apartments in Boston has surpassed $3,000 for the first time on record. As of May 1, Boston’s average rent price has increased by $150 since January 1 and is now up +15.55% compared to a year ago.
Boston’s average rent price is calculated by taking the average of: studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom prices. To ensure the highest accuracy, these average rent prices exclude luxury apartment buildings which often have wild fluctuations in pricing on a daily basis.
A look at the historical trend line for this average rent figure shows that prices have accelerated significantly once pandemic restrictions were lifted in late 2021. Prices did fall during the pandemic years as rental demand was negatively impacted by distance based learning and remote work. Since apartment demand has returned to Boston, we’re seeing an unprecedented acceleration in rent price growth.
2023 Jamaica Plain Apartment Rental Market Report
Jamaica Plain’s apartment rental market has experienced unprecedented rental price growth over the past 18 months. Rent prices in Jamaica Plain are up +12.25% year-over-year and up +17.39% compared to May 2021. The rising rents have been fueled by a surge in demand for Jamaica Plain apartments, as many renters have been priced out of the downtown markets. Here are the main trends driving Jamaica Plain’s rental market in 2023.
2023 Beacon Hill Apartment Rental Market Report
The apartment rental market in Beacon Hill Boston is seeing the highest rent prices on record in 2023. Beacon Hill’s average rent price surpassed its previous all-time high in February of this year, and has since been climbing to new highs each month. Median days on market for Beacon Hill apartments are down by -54.55% since last year while average rent is up by +9.97% over the same time span, suggesting demand for rentals in this historic neighborhood is higher than it has been in years past.
Apartment Vacancies Near Zero in Beacon Hill
The real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) in Beacon Hill is currently 0.14%, down by -60% compared to last May. The vacancy rate has been hovering close to the zero mark for most of the last year and a half, suggesting that demand is even higher now than prior to the pandemic. Even more interesting is that Beacon Hill did not see the typical spike in RTVR in September of last year as it has seen in years prior. In fact, RTVR hit an all-time low in Beacon Hill during November of 2022 when it bottomed out at 0.07%.
2023 Mission Hill Sales Market Report
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.
