Boston-area apartment rents largely flat heading into the spring

Median rents on one- and two-bedroom apartments in 16 different Boston-area towns and cities barely budged from March into April, according to a new report from real estate listings site Zumper.

That’s the good news for tenants. The bad news? Median rents—particularly in Boston proper, Cambridge, Brookline, Waltham, Newton, and Somerville—stayed pretty high. And some had edged up quite a bit year over year.

Zumper’s reports track vacant and available apartments, so they are pretty good snapshots of where the market is. See the breakdown below. Note the year-over-year surge in Waltham’s one-bedroom median rent.

Reports such as the Zumper one highlight the Boston region’s status as one of the more expensive urban areas in the U.S. for leasing. These reports also toss fuel on the fire surrounding what to do about such steep rents. Rent control, anyone?