Why Have Less Boston Apartments Been Rented This Year?

Something is up with the Boston rental market.

For years, realtors, landlords, and renters alike have been telling the same story every rental season: Competition in Boston is steep, inventory is slim, prices go up every year, and you take what you can get when renting. In every iteration of our Most Competitive Rental Markets report, Boston has cracked the top 10 for its sizable price increases, low vacancy, and low average time on market.

Though the market was still plenty competitive this year, there’s some early signs that the tide may be turning in Boston.

If you are still contemplating moving in September, you may have more options that you’d expect this year.

As of the end of August, a much greater number of apartments with 9/1 move-in dates were still on the market, and that’s unusual. In fact, last year the amount of available inventory on our site dropped by about 29% from June 25 to August 25 (the period which we defined as “peak renting season” for this report). Meanwhile, this year, available inventory only dropped by about 13% over the same period.

As of today (Sept. 3), there are over 2,200 vacant apartments on our site marked as "available now."

Another key indicator of competitiveness is average time on market for units. Many renters in Boston are familiar with the experience of inquiring on an apartment the day it hits rental websites like ours, only to find out an application has been accepted even just a day or two later. For many, this was still the case — though this is another area where our data shows a shift. This renting season, a unit’s average time on market in Boston was about 12% longer than this time last year.

This new reality has meant some property owners have had to adjust their price strategy or risk having a vacant apartment in September.

It’s not unusual to see price drops throughout the summer, especially as some harder-to-rent units at higher price points sit on the market. However, the drops we’re seeing this year are a little more sizable. This year, the average rent decrease for units that had a price drop in the summer months was $201, 27% higher than last year’s average price drop.

So, what’s contributing to this recent trend? It’s likely a combination of factors.

For one, property owners seemed to have priced their units higher this year than in previous years, and it’s possible many renters simply can’t keep up. Though Boston renters are no strangers to annual price increases for housing, the increasingly unattainable cost of living and renting has long been a complaint for residents.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, wages and salaries in Boston only increased at a 3.3% rate over a 12-month period from June ’23 to June ’24. During the same period, median asking rents outpaced this growth: In June ’24, median rents increased by 4.4% YoY for studio apartments, 5.8% for 2-bedroom apartments, and 5.7% for 3-bedroom apartments. Only one-bedroom apartments saw increases below this 3.3% wage increase figure, at just 1.9% YoY. As of the end of August, Boston was the fourth most expensive city to rent a one-bedroom apartment country, at a median asking rent price of $2,700 a month.

The story of Boston renting has always one of supply and demand, with the latter heavily outweighing the former. New residential construction in Boston has consistently fallen behind what is necessary to house the entire population, which gives owners and brokers the upper hand. In these conditions, owners can comfortably raise their prices, knowing that many renters are scrambling to sign a lease on the first unit within their budget that they can get their hands on. With Boston also being one of the only cities in the U.S. where renters foot the bill for a broker fee — equal to one-month’s rent — there’s also a strong incentive for tenants to stay in their current unit, despite a price increase, because they are not willing to write a check for four times the monthly rent (first month, last month, security deposit, and broker fee) to sign a lease on a new place.

It's entirely possible that, given all this, renters are just getting priced out and leaving. According to a study released in April 2024 by Boston Indicators, “Massachusetts is regularly losing more of its existing residents than gaining those coming from other parts of the country.” This is especially true for those aged 25-44, which is the largest group that seems to be leaving the state, though nearly every group has more out-migration than in-migration based on this study.

And if they’re not moving out of the state entirely, renters who may otherwise have liked to live alone may now be finding roommates to offset the high costs of housing. According to our data, 18% of apartments with three-plus bedrooms that were available on our site in June are no longer available now. Inventory for three-bedroom apartments is down just under 11%. One-bedroom inventory is down 14%, though much of this can likely be attributed to couples renting them together rather than just sole renters.

Two-bedroom apartments have been the least popular this year — with only 2% of the total inventory available in June getting rented by the end of August. This makes sense when you consider the median asking rent prices: The median price of a two-bedroom in Boston as of August is around $3,400 a month, so splitting it would cost each renter $1,700 a month. Meanwhile, the median price of a three-bedroom is $3,600 — so, splitting this with two roommates would only cost each renter $1,200 a month. At these rates, a two-bedroom may be one of the less cost-efficient apartments to rent this season.

The inventory of studios, which has the smallest share of the market, is down 28%, showing that they are getting rented quickly. Prices for studios, however, are slightly up in August when compared to June, indicating that the cheapest properties flew off the shelves while the most expensive properties are still sitting on the market.

Currently, Brighton, Cambridge, and Brookline have the most available one- and two-bedroom apartments left, in that order. Dorchester has the most available three-bedrooms still on the market.

Though this data may look promising for Bostonians who are tired of getting the short end of the stick when it comes to renting, it’s no guarantee that a shake-up is coming to the market. Just because many units that have been sitting on the market for several weeks or months have had their prices lowered, there’s no sign that new rentals coming on the market will have lower prices.

Our advice for renters still looking for an apartment is to use this moment in time when they have some leverage to dig into the data and use that to negotiate a fair deal for themselves. On ApartmentAdvisor, we give every listing a deal rating based on factors like size, amenities, and comparable units in the neighborhood to help renters make informed decisions about rent price. We also include a price history for all units for which the data is available, so renters can know how long a unit has been on the market and how many price drops it has already had.