South Boston has long been Beantown’s steady Eddy in terms of apartment inventory and rent prices. It is not as much affected by the constant ebb and flow of the student population every September, so Vacancies and apartment availability for South Boston apartments tend to stay very static, while the rest of the city experiences wild fluctuations in inventory all centered around the 9/1 leasing date.
60% of apartments in the City of Boston get rented out on either 8/30 or 9/1. It is the single biggest influencing factor on the local market that exists, and this year we’re seeing a lot of evidence that our student population will not be returning in the numbers we’re used to seeing.
But that shouldn’t affect South Boston right? That’s the question we’re going to tackle today: How has the market shifted in South Boston compared to the more volatile towns closer to the Universities such as Mission Hill, Fort Hill, Allston and Fenway.
Historically South Boston has some of the lowest Vacancy Rates in the city. Southie usually always sits within the top 3 in terms of scarcity compared to other Boston neighborhoods. That is not the case in the year of COVID. As of now the Availability rate for apartments in South Boston sits at 2.76%, while the Vacancy Rate sits at 0.95%. That is the 7th lowest Availability rate in the City and 6th lowest Vacancy Rate.
While these numbers are well below the average of what we’re seeing in Boston as a whole, it’s still a much larger inventory than we are used to seeing in August in Southie. During the 3rd week of August in 2019, the Availability Rate was 1.65% while the Vacancy Rate was .28%. That means that apartment availability has doubled year over year and vacancy rate has more than tripled.
This is a breath of fresh air for those seeking apartments for rent in South Boston, as it finally provides a bit more options in one of Boston’s most highly coveted neighborhoods. For landlords it bodes trouble, as they frantically drop prices to try and fill their units before the 9/1 leasing date. Prices have already begun to fall in and around the city, and we can expect that price drop to pick up speed in September.