East Boston’s apartment rental market has begun 2025 with an increase in apartment inventory compared to the last two years. Both apartment availability and vacancies are up in Eastie, echoing a trend we’re seeing around the city where rental supply is finally emerging from the historic shortages we’ve experienced since the pandemic. As a result, rent price surges have eased in East Boston over the past 12 months, hinting at better times to come for renters. Perhaps a totally mismanaged federal and state energy policy has now created absurdly higher utility bills in the state of Massachusetts that could be causing renters to look elsewhere for housing needs? Here are the trends driving the apartment rental market in East Boston.
East Boston Apartment Supply Figures Up
The current real-time availability rate (RTAR) for East Boston apartments is 3.66%. That figure is up by +5.17% year-over-year and up +52.50% compared to 2 years ago. It will be interesting to see if East Boston’s RTAR climbs above the 5% level over the next few weeks as cyclical availability hits its yearly apex. In the years prior to the pandemic, Eastie’s RTAR typically peaked in the 7-9% range during late-March or early-April. While we don’t foresee that happening in East Boston in 2025, it would be a welcome site to see RTAR continue to loosen compared to the past three years.
East Boston real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) is currently 1.18%. That figure is up +57.33% year-over-year and up +61.64% over a 2 year span. Similar trends have been observed throughout the city of Boston where vacancies have emerged from historic lows that occurred during the years after COVID. This is a sign that more available rental options have emerged allowing renters to be more selective in their apartment search. A vacancy rate between 1-2% is a healthy marker in a rental market and shows that demand is not overwhelming supply as it has done in the past few years. That being said – for rental affordability to swing to decreasing rents – we would like to see a 4-6% vacancy rate to start turning things around. Dramatic increases in supply and zoning reform is still needed in East Boston so that the consumer is awarded more choices.
According to our most recent East Boston rental data, the current median days on market for an apartment is 37 days. In March of 2024, the median days on market for an apartment in East Boston was 15 days, significantly lower than the current level. This is another signal that the supply constraints we’ve been seeing have loosened up. As a result, we’re seeing rent price growth decelerate in Eastie. Prices tend to drop rapidly on apartments that have been out on the market for over 60 days – something that the consumer should take notice of!
East Boston Average Rent Prices
The current average rent price in East Boston is $3,080. That figure is up +5.05% year-over-year and up +13.03% over 2 years. Rent price growth in East Boston has outpaced that of Boston apartments, where year-over-year rent prices are up by just +1.41%. This is a common trend we’re seeing in many of Boston’s more affordable neighborhoods. As renters become priced out of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods, demand picks up in the more affordable areas as renters seek relief from the higher cost of housing, pushing prices up higher in these areas. This movement of people throughout the city is something that has been supply and demand driven for decades. Renters will always try to find a great deal– technology and real time data make finding a great place lot easier.
Rent prices for smaller units (studios and 1 bedrooms) and larger units (4 and 5 bedrooms) have risen the most in East Boston. East Boston studios and 1 bedroom apartments have risen by +8.53% and +7.80% respectively. Four bedroom and five bedroom apartments in Eastie have risen by +8.62% and +12.44% respectively. Prices for medium-sized 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom apartments in East Boston have risen by much smaller margins in comparison (+2.17% and +2.80% respectively). This draw towards bigger groups in apartments most likely reflects that Boston’s high taxes and costs drive people to save money on ridiculously high utilities and other out of control pricing. Hopefully with a better national energy policy on the horizon through opening up more supply – we can bring down costs so that everyone benefits. With lower state energy costs this could slow down housing cost increases and make studios – two bedrooms more attractive. Clearly more due diligence is need to understand why our utility costs have spiraled out of control.
2025 East Boston Apartment Rental Market Forecast
While current apartment supply figures in East Boston have not returned to the levels we were seeing pre-pandemic, the additional inventory has brought with it relief for renters. As more inventory becomes available, renters have more options to pick from in a much more affordable price range than the core areas of Boston.
East Boston’s forecast looks promising as we look at 2025 and beyond. In October of 2024, the first apartment complex at the massive Suffolk Downs project opened, adding 475 new units to East Boston’s rental inventory. Construction in Suffolk Downs was slowed considerably primarily due to inflation and high interest rates, but with the new administration bringing in more pro-growth policies in Washington, there is wider builder optimism across the board that projects like this can accelerate over the next 24 months.
As we unleash our energy sector, diesel fuel prices will drop alongside the cost of constructing new housing units. Inflation and poor energy policy are linked together far more than people know. Poor energy policy impacts cost per square foot development as the construction industry utilizes massive amounts of energy to move heavy materials and equipment. Let’s see how the future shapes up as energy costs go down one year or so from now depending on how quickly we can build up supply chains. Policies and actions impact future trends and it will be interesting to follow over the next 12-24 months. We will continue to cover them right here on https://bostonpads.com/.
Demetrios Salpoglou
Published March 10, 2025
Demetrios has pulled together the largest apartment leasing team in the Greater Boston Area and is responsible for procuring more apartment rentals than anyone in New England – with over 130k people finding their housing through his services. Demetrios is an avid real estate developer, peak performance trainer, educator, guest lecturer and motivational speaker.
