While the median asking rent has dropped marginally year-over-year, Greater Boston renters are still faced with a high financial burden.
A recent Realtor.com report shows that the median rent of $3,022 makes up 33.6 percent of the typical Boston renter’s income. This is the fifth-largest share in the nation.
“One way to think about housing affordability is to use the 30% rule of thumb, where housing expenses including rent or mortgage, utilities and HOAs or other fees should not exceed more than 30% of your income,” Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in a statement. “Amid easing rents and growing incomes, rental affordability improved in a majority of U.S. major metros compared to last year, and crucially, typical asking rent is less than 30% of the typical household income nationwide. Although this is great news for many renters, housing affordability is still a challenge as rents are still considerably higher than before the pandemic and still above the 30% threshold in six of the metros Realtor.com examined.”
Nationwide, the median rent is $1,753 which is a 0.3 percent decrease year-over-year but a 20.1 percent over five years prior.
Still, a recent Zillow analysis found that the monthly mortgage payment on the median Greater Boston home that sold in August was nearly $500 greater than what its economists measured as the median rent for the region.
Rents this high reflect how competitive the market is in Boston.
According to a recent report from RentCafe, Boston landed in the top 20 in terms of market competitiveness nationwide, with 13 applicants vying for each open apartment at the large, professionally-managed buildings that make up the data set of its parent company Yardi Matrix.
RentCafe also found 94.9 percent of apartments are occupied, leaving little supply for prospective renters.