A U-Haul moving van sits outside a Boston home. iStock photo
The Massachusetts rental market is continuing to see rent growth, but depending on the location of rental units, landlords are being forced to make concessions.
Rental affordability across the United States was at its best in four years last month, requiring 28.4 percent of the median household income nationwide, a new analysis from Zillow economists found. This represents a 0.4 percent drop year-over-year.
But in Greater Boston, the share of median income spent on rent was only slightly lower in September 29.7 percent, down two-tenths of a percent year-over-year.
In the Worcester and Springfield metros, the share of median income spent on rent actually rose by nearly a full percentage point year-on-year, to 24.9 percent and 31.6 percent in September, respectively.
“Markets that built more — and faster — are seeing that investment pay off with more renters able to comfortably afford an apartment,” Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow said in a statement. “It’s a reminder that housing costs can be tamed when policy allows supply to keep up with demand.”
In Greater Boston, though, it may be shrinking demand. Completions of new multifamily developments are at historic lows. But market-watchers say the Trump administrations’ immigration policies, among other actions, have caused a number of international students to reconsider their decisions to attend the region’s colleges and universities. Weakness and uncertainty in the city’s highly-paid biotech sector may also be playing a factory.
While renting is becoming more affordable in relation to income in some places, landlords are also being forced to make concessions to attract renters. Nationally, 37.3 percent of all rentals on Zillow offer some sort of concession, a new record high for September and up from 14.4 percent in 2019.
In Boston, these deals aren’t as common, with 31 percent of rentals offering these deals last month, up from 28 percent in September 2024. September is a key month for the region’s landlords, as many units turn over Sept. 1.
The downward trend continues as you move west across Massachusetts. Only 21.4 percent of rentals in Worcester offered concessions in September, compared to 34.9 percent in September 2024. And a mere 7.7 percent of rentals offered concessions in Springfield last month, compared to 14.2 percent of rentals the same time last year.
National rent growth in multifamily units on Zillow was 1.7 percent over last year in September, the second-lowest annual growth seen since 2021.
Massachusetts outpaced the nation as its multifamily markets remained in high demand, Zillow’s data showed..
Greater Boston saw the typical multifamily rent grow only 2.7 percent, down from 3 percent in September 2024 and 10.5 percent in September 2021. The Worcester metro clocked in 4.9 percent growth year-on-year while Springfield clocked in 4.5 percent.
Banker & Tradesman staff writer James Sanna contributed to this report.
