The Boston region was the third most expensive metro area in the U.S. to rent an apartment at the start of October, according to real estate listings site Zumper, which just released its third-quarter market report.
The report analyzed vacant and/or available apartments in different metro regions as of the start of the month, so it’s a solid snapshot of what’s out there price-wise.
Boston—as has so often happened in the past—finished behind San Francisco and New York nationally, making us the second-priciest U.S. market for an apartment east of the Rocky Mountains (think about it).
Drilling down locally, there are a few big takeaways from the Zumper report:
- Columbus Park in the South Boston-Dorchester borderlands and Cambridge’s Harvard Square saw some of the fastest-growing rents during the third quarter, with the median asking increasing 10 percent compared with the three-month period before.
- East Cambridge, downtown Boston, Chinatown, the Leather District, and the D Street-West Broadway area in Southie were the most expensive areas to rent as of the start of October.
- Finally, while rent increases might be moderating their pace, rents are not necessarily coming down (increases are increases). According to Zumper, 1-BR rents grew 1.4 percent during the quarter to a median of $2,250, while 2-BRs jumped 4 percent to $2,600.
Also, Zumper tells us they will begin adding Dorchester to their rental analyses soon. Sit tight.
- Boston rent increases are actually slowing: report [Curbed Boston]