Higher interest rates driving the apartment rental market

Boston’s rental market is in for a sizzling summer, according to a new report from Zillow that named the metro one of the hottest rental markets of summer 2026.

Beantown ranked No. 7, just behind Chicago. Providence, Rhode Island, New York and San Francisco took the top three spots.

The city saw 2.5% annual rent growth last year with a forecasted vacancy rate of just 6.3% for the upcoming year, compared to 7.3% nationally.

Experts point out that lagging supply drove Boston’s spot on the list.

“In Zillow’s hottest rental markets, the math is simple: More people want to live there than there are homes to rent — whether for access to amenities, strong job markets or family ties, renters are competing over a limited supply,” said Kara Ng, senior economist at Zillow®. “The U.S. built more new units in 2024 than any year in the past half-century, but that boom largely bypassed the Northeast and coastal California, which is exactly why rental competition there is so intense. Markets that missed out on the list aren’t necessarily lacking demand; they just did a better job bringing new supply online.”