Top 5 Lowest Vacancy Rates in Boston
The Boston housing market has seen some pretty interesting changes in 2020. The coronavirus has impacted much more than just real estate since March of this year, but the case of Boston’s rental market is interesting considering the incredible run it’s been on in recent years.
2020 has proven that no market is immune to COVID, as vacancy rates have soared to numbers unseen since the housing crash of ’08. The vacancy rate in downtown has surged to over 12.58%, 10 times higher than it was in August of 2019 (1.29%).
Outer city neighborhoods that typically have higher than average availability like Roslindale and Mattapan suddenly have some of the lowest vacancy rates in the city. It might seem obvious to most that people want to escape the density of downtown amid a pandemic, but for those following the market for years, it’s shocking to see that it’s harder to find apartments in West Roxbury than Back Bay at the moment.
Here are the 4 Boston neighborhoods with the lowest apartment availability:
In 2019, Roslindale ranked middle of the pack in terms of neighborhood vacancies in Boston. It ranked 19 out of 30 for highest vacancy rate. That’s changed quite a bit in 2020. As folks have spread out away from Downtown, all of sudden its hard to find an apartment in Roslindale.
Vacancy Rate: .57%
Rank: 1st lowest
Availability Rate: 1.89%
Rank: 2nd lowest
South Boston has long been one of the hardest neighborhoods to find an apartment. In 2020, it had the 8th highest vacancy rate among all neighborhoods in Boston. That hasn’t changed much this year, as it’s still among the lowest in apartment availability.
Vacancy Rate: .99%
Rank: 4th lowest
Availability Rate: 2.88%
Rank: 4th lowest
3. Charlestown Apartments
Charlestown, like South Boston, is usually a tough neighborhood to find an apartment. That trend is still true this year, as it ranks 3rd in overall inventory scarcity. Like two other neighborhoods on this list, it borders City limits and is located away from Downtown (over a river in Charlestown’s case).
Vacancy Rate: .78%
Rank: 3rd lowest
Availability Rate: 2.98%
Rank: 5th lowest
4. Mattapan Apartments
Mattapan is typically one of the easier neighborhoods to find an apartment. It’s location far away from Downtown usually keeps this area under the radar. That all changed with COVID. Mattapan is now ranked #4 in overall apartment scarcity, compared to #24 a year ago.
Vacancy Rate: 1.4%
Rank: 9th lowest
Availability Rate: 1.86%
Rank: 2nd lowest
