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Greater Boston’s pricey rental housing market is getting even more unaffordable, with rents rising at double the national average over the past year.

Asking rents rose 1.2 percent to $2,836, housing researchers Yardi Matrix reported, as multifamily construction declines and competition for apartments intensifies. The local occupancy rate hit 96.5 percent in November, the third highest of 30 U.S. metros tracked by Yardi Matrix.

The weakening development picture has become an issue in the Boston mayoral race, with challenger Josh Kraft blaming incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu for deterring housing construction with higher affordable housing and environmental sustainability requirements.

Housing construction has declined more sharply in Boston than in the suburbs in recent years, according to recent research by Costar. Development also has declined nationally since 2021 following a series of interest rate increases and rising project costs.

Across Greater Boston, housing construction has shrunk to the lowest level in a decade, with just over 7,000 apartments delivered in 2024, Yardi Matrix reported. Higher-priced units in the “lifestyle” category accounted for 86 percent of the new deliveries.

And the emphasis on higher-priced units is likely to continue, with lifestyle apartments comprising nearly 82 percent of the units now in the planning and permitting phases.

Just two local submarkets had rent decreases in the past year. Average advertised asking rents dropped 2.1 percent to $4,090 in South Boston and 0.5 percent to $4,070 in downtown Boston, the report stated.