J Woburn Heights/Image courtesy of Jefferson Apartment Group
Apartment rents in Greater Boston rose the fastest of the 51 largest U.S. metros during the past six months, with rapid acceleration in suburban markets such as Medford, Norwood and Woburn.
While apartment rents nationwide have remained flat over the past year, Greater Boston rents escalated by 2 percent over the past 12 months, including 8 percent in the past six months, Apartment List reported.
With average rents rising 6.1 percent in the past 12 months, Woburn has the region’s fastest rent appreciation, according to the report. Average rents for one-bedroom units in Woburn now average $1,897, according to ApartmentList.
Jefferson Apartment Group’s newly-completed J. Woburn Heights complex currently lists one-bedroom units starting at $2,619.
Medford and Norwood ranked second and third with annual rent increases of 5.2 percent, and median one-bedroom rents of $1,764 and $1,979 respectively.
Among 15 Greater Boston communities surveyed in the latest report, median rents ranged from a high of $2,741 in Burlington to $1,593 in Lowell.
More than 8,000 apartments have been delivered in the Greater Boston area since the beginning of 2022, according to a recent report by brokerage Colliers, and another 17,000 units are in the development pipeline.
But higher construction costs and lower potential exit prices could depress future development activity, Colliers predicted.
The city of Worcester, which has experienced a multifamily building boom in recent years, enacted an inclusionary development ordinance in April that requires at least 10 percent of units in developments with 12 or more units as income-restricted, potentially depressing future housing production, the report noted.
Providence and Chicago ranked second and third nationally in the Apartment List report, with 7 and 6 percent rent increases over the past six months.
Rent declines were reported in Sun Belt metros including New Orleans and Las Vegas, where rents dropped more than 5 percent.
