Boston Multifamily Report – June 2025
The city is showing good fundamentals despite a sluggish job market.
Boston’s multifamily market was solid at the start of the new leasing season, with fundamentals steady despite sluggish job growth. Average advertised asking rents rebounded in the short term, up 0.6 percent on a trailing three-month basis through April, to $2,924. Year-over-year growth was 1.8 percent, double the 0.9 percent U.S. rate. Meanwhile, the overall occupancy rate in stabilized properties remained strong, at 96.1 percent in March.
Employment growth was negative in Boston for the sixth consecutive month in February, down 0.1 percent year-over-year, or 2,000 net jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in March, trailing the state (4.4 percent) and the U.S. (4.1 percent). Three sectors added jobs during the period, led by education and health services (10,400 jobs) and government (4,000 jobs). Of the five contracting sectors, leisure and hospitality (-4,600 jobs) and professional and business services (-3,500 jobs) posted the steepest declines. Cambridge, Seaport Innovation District and Fenway all feature notable projects under construction, including Fenway Center’s $1 billion second phase, and South Station Tower, which is slated to open in 2025.
Developers delivered 1,480 units through April and had another 15,920 units underway, but new construction is rapidly decelerating. Meanwhile, investors traded $770 million, with the average price per unit up 6.8 percent year-to-date to $419,792, nearly double the $212,785 U.S. figure.
