Hi John,
It’s Marina again with the latest apartment rates in your city and metro area.
This year, March was not the start of the rental season, but rather the beginning of a worldwide economic slowdown due to the new COVID-19 spread. The national year-over-year rent increase in March (2.9%) was slower than that of February (3.2%), pegging the average rate at $1,474. 60% of the nation’s cities saw this slowdown, and Boston was the 5th most sluggish among the largest of them.
Here are the main highlights from our March Boston rent report:
- Boston registered the 5th slowest annual increase in rent among large cities – 1.9%, with the average rent clocking in at $3,444. In February the city showed a higher year-over-year increase of 2.9%, proving that a slowdown in rent growth during the coronavirus crisis is already starting to show.
- Apartment rental rates in Boston rose at a slower pace than in Cambridge ($3,200), where prices went up by 3.7% since last year. Cambridge also saw a slower yearly rent increase in March than in February (4.5%), falling in line with the national trend.
- Rents in Billerica increased the fastest in the area, shooting up by 6.4% since March 2019, while those in Medford are the only ones to have dipped (-4.1%).
- Brookline and Somerville are the only other two cities in the metro, besides Boston and Cambridge, to have apartment rates above the 3k mark – $3,035 and $3,024, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, Brockton ($1,614) is the most budget-friendly city for renters in this area.
Boston’s average rent reached $3,444 in March, after a 1.9% increase since last year. One of the nation’s largest job hubs and a renter-majority city (65%), Boston is an attractive place to live in with apartment rents well above the national average of $1,474.
Boston real estate
To see how rents evolved in your city, you can access the Boston Rent Report here.
If you need any additional information or data points, please let me know and I’ll be happy to investigate.
Hope you’ll find this data interesting for one of your articles.
Best,
Marina
Marina Andresi
Marketing Communications Specialist | RENTCafé
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