Well, that was brief. About a month ago, real estate research site Zumper declared Boston to be the fifth most expensive region in the U.S. for renting a 1-BR apartment.
The position was noteworthy--for years, Boston had idled in third place, behind New York and San Francisco. The new Zumper list bumped Boston to fifth place, behind San Jose and Oakland, California enclaves right near San Fran.
Now the most recent ranking, which takes into account vacant and available apartments for rent at the end of July, puts Boston back in third.
The median rent on a Boston-area 1-BR was $2,230 a month as of the end of last month. That is just ahead of San Jose ($2,220) and Oakland ($2,210).
As for 2-BRs in the Boston area, the median rent was $2,530 as of late July.