Most expensive rents in Boston area: Cambridge leads, Somerville gaining

Cambridge was the most expensive municipality in the Boston area in March to rent either a 1-BR or a 2-BR apartment, according to a report from listings site Zumper.

Brookline and Boston were the next most expensive for renting either a 1-BR or a 2-BR. See the chart below for a full rundown of the 16 cities and towns covered.

Zumper culled from more than 75,000 available listings last month to find median apartment rents.

As expensive as Cambridge, Brookline, and Boston rents proved to be in March, they were not among the region’s fastest-growing.

Rather, Brockton, Worcester, and Haverhill rents were the fastest-growing year over year for 1-BRs; and Quincy, Lawrence, and Somerville were the fastest-growing month over month.

For 2-BRs, Brockton, Worcester, and Haverhill were the fastest-growing year over year; and Lawrence, Quincy, and Medford saw the steepest jumps month to month.

What’s this suggest? That perhaps the high rents common in more central areas such as Boston proper and Cambridge are settling in for the duration even farther out.

In Waltham, for instance, the median rent for a 1-BR has increased more than 11 percent during the past 12 months; in Medford, it’s up 10.8 percent.

In other words, there is increasingly no place for tenants to hide. Except maybe in the sales market. Yeah, right.

• Boston Metro Report: April 2017 [Zumper]
• Buying vs. renting in Boston: What’s the better option right now? [Curbed Boston]