The performance of Medford’s apartment rental market exemplifies the shift in housing demand in Greater Boston. While most of Boston’s core neighborhoods experienced widespread vacancies as a result of remote learning, some of the Metro’s outer-lying areas, including Medford, were spared from the supply excess. When the vacancy rate in Boston reached an astounding 9.13% in September of 2020, the vacancy rate for Medford apartments peaked at a relatively low 3.93%.
While renewed demand for off campus housing has closed that gap since September, the current vacancy rate of 1.47% in Medford is still 36.26% lower than Boston’s vacancy rate of 2.73%. Medford is currently holds the 6th lowest vacancy rate out of all Boston suburbs behind Newton (1.58%), Watertown (1.33%), Quincy (1.20%), and Waltham (0.55%).
What’s interesting is that historically these areas including Medford were not the most competitive rental markets in Boston. With the exception of Newton, historically vacancy rates were higher than they are currently than they were pre-pandemic. It illustrates a trend that has been apparent in the data since the start of the pandemic. People’s preferences have shifted, at least temporarily, towards the renting an apartment in the suburbs and outer edges of town.
Further evidence of this can be seen when you analyze the neighborhoods with the lowest vacancy rates within the City of Boston. Currently the only vacancy rates below 1% among all Boston neighborhoods are Roslindale (0.73%), South Boston (0.81%), and Charlestown (0.89%), all of which are neighborhoods that mark Boston’s city limits. If you told someone that Roslindale would have the lowest vacancy rate in Boston 2 years ago, you would have gotten some weird looks. The same is true for Medford MA's apartment rental market.
But nonetheless it is reality today, and Medford has benefited from this shift in demand at least temporarily. Look for apartment supply in Medford MA to continue to tighten towards the fall. Medford is a hotbed for off-campus housing near Tufts University, so that added demand will likely push apartment availability lower than it was prior to COVID. Look for average rent prices in Medford MA to grow as a result. We will continue to monitor the data as September approaches.