Boston rent still high despite close of peak season
A recent Zillow report ranked Boston in the top 15 most expensive rental markets in the country.
Despite coming off peak rental season, the cost of renting in Boston is still sky-high.
A recent Zillow report ranked the Hub as the 12th most expensive rental market in the country, with a median rent of $2,212. If a Boston resident’s median income is roughly $77,055, that means they’re spending about 34 percent of their income on rent. Yikes.
“In terms of rising rental rates, Boston is certainly at the forefront,’’ said Zillow chief economist Svenja Gudell. “It’s rising annually at 6.5 percent. That’s typically double what you’d see for rental appreciation rates.’’
We’ve long known renting in Boston is expensive, but the rental market typically slows down as the summer comes to a close and people sign their September 1 leases. But rent has shown no signs of slowing down. Realtors attribute this to a demand that’s remained strong despite the boom in apartment construction around the city.
“Prices are still increasing, but a lot of new development projects have come online in the past two years and there are more in the pipeline,’’ Michael DiMella, a managing partner at Charlesgate Realty Group, said. “So that process is starting to slowly absorb the demand, but we have a long way to go overall.’’
Gudell added that part of the reason demand is so fierce is because many of the developments being built are high-end luxury apartments that middle-income Bostonians can’t afford.
“Boston has a fair amount of construction in luxury, but [developers] aren’t doing much to ease the crunch for middle-income or low-income renters that need cheaper units,’’ Gudell said.
Despite this slightly bleak news, DiMella provided a silver lining.
Landlords looking to fill last-minute vacancies before school starts might be willing to cut renters a sweet deal. “If [landlords] have open spots, they’re more likely to negotiate this late in the summer so it can be a better time to look,’’ DiMella said. “There’s generally less selection as well, but sometimes, that can get you a better deal.’’
And if you really want to feel better about signing that rent check every month, remember that other cities have it way worse.
According to the Zillow report, San Jose, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz, California, are the most expensive rental markets in the U.S.
Zillow ranked the 15 most expensive rental markets by analyzing housing data from the second quarter of 2015 and calculating median rental values based on their rental index. They used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to estimate median incomes for each metro.
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