The apartment rental market in Watertown, MA has seen apartment availability shrink by -22.22% in 2025. Inventory has loosened up in most of the neighborhoods in the Boston metro this year, but that trend has not hit Watertown where rental availability recorded its lowest yearly peak since 2019. Despite the tight rental supply levels, Watertown remains one of the most affordable neighborhoods to rent an apartment in the Boston metro. These are trends moving Watertown’s apartment rental market in 2025.
Watertown Apartment Supply Figures
The current real-time availability rate (RTAR) for Watertown apartments is 2.17%. That figure is down -22.22% year-over-year and down -4.41% over a two-year span. Watertown’s RTAR peaked at 3.41% in late March, down considerably from the 2024 peak of 4.71%. These figures indicate that demand for apartments has been growing in Watertown, perhaps due to the exorbitant rent prices in most of Boston’s core neighborhoods.
The current real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) in Watertown is 0.43%. That figure is up +16.22% year-over-year and down -28.33% compared to May 2023. RTVR did briefly spike to 1.24% in Watertown during January of this year before trending back downwards. Outside of that, Watertown’s vacancy rate has hovered at or below the 1% level since fall 2021, another indicator of strong demand in the rental market.
Based on our most recent Watertown apartment data, the median days on market for an apartment is 17 days. That is considerably lower than the median days on market for Boston apartments, which is 30. With supply figures trending lower and demand markers strong, you would think the average rent price in Watertown would be moving higher. Surprisingly, that is not the case.
Average Rent Prices in Watertown MA
The current average rent price in Watertown, MA is $2,681. That figure is actually down -2.47% year-over-year and unchanged over a 2-year span. Watertown remains one of the most affordable neighborhoods to rent an apartment in the Boston metro and $649 cheaper on average than the city of Boston ($3,330).
Average rent prices for 1 bedroom apartments and 2 bedroom apartments in Watertown both fell by similar margins since last May (-0.73% and -0.77% respectively). Prices for 3 bedroom apartments in Watertown increased +7.69% year-over-year while Watertown 4 bedrooms dropped by -4.31%.
2025 Watertown Apartment Rental Market Forecast
Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, it’s hard to imagine that Watertown’s average rent price will continue on a downward trajectory. With supply figures low and demand for rental units growing, we do expect rent prices to trend upward during the second half of the year. Based on current market conditions, look for rent prices to finish off 2025 at or slightly above (0%-2%) their levels at the beginning of the year.
Watertown is unique in that it’s one of the few areas in metro Boston where there is ample space to develop. Last year, the City council began the process of updating their zoning requirements so that more multi-family dwellings could be built close to transit stations. This could provide up to 4,423 new units of housing to Watertown over the next few years according to Watertown News, which would go a long way to help the shortage of housing in the Boston metro. We will continue to cover these stories as they develop.
Demetrios Salpoglou
Published May 28, 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.
