How Is the Greater Boston Rental Market Doing in 2026? September Data & Landlord Insights

Your monthly guide to rental conditions in Boston Metro. This is our October 2026 report, covering September 2026 rental data: what rents looked like last month, what's driving the market, and what it means if you own a rental home.

Boston Metro Rental Market Snapshot — September 2026

Here's where Boston Metro rents landed in September 2026, across all property types — apartments, condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.

The Boston Metro median rent hit $3,218 in September 2026, up 3.78% year-over-year, even as the market absorbed the annual "Allston Christmas" turnover wave and softening demand from a cooling tech sector. Homes averaged 45 days on market, a sign that landlords pricing above current conditions are sitting on vacancies longer than they should.

Source: Doorstead market data, aggregated from public records and online rental listings, all rental property types, September 2026.

What's Driving Boston Metro Rental Market Conditions Right Now

Boston Metro Rental Supply and New Construction

New supply is concentrated along two corridors: East Boston and Revere, where large-scale mixed-use redevelopment is delivering mid-rise apartments at scale, and the I-95/Route 128 corridor through Burlington and Waltham, where suburban multifamily is steadily absorbing renters priced out of the city. Metro-wide, roughly 10,000 units remained under construction heading into fall 2026, even as city permit volumes fell to their lowest pace in over a decade — Boston issued just 432 permits in Q1 2026, down from 642 two years earlier. That split matters: the delivery pipeline is still meaningful near East Boston, but inner-city landlords in Back Bay, the South End, and Jamaica Plain face almost no nearby new competition.

Why People Rent in Boston Metro

Boston's renter base is unusually stable because homeownership is effectively out of reach for most residents: with a 30-year mortgage rate at 7.28% and median home prices well above regional norms, buying pencils out for almost no one who moved here for a job. The metro's anchor employers in healthcare, biotech, and higher education keep demand structurally high, though employment dipped roughly 2% year-over-year by mid-2026 and tech-sector hiring cooled, softening demand at the mid-tier. September is Boston's defining demand event: around 70% of leases turn over on September 1, as more than 250,000 students compete simultaneously with healthcare workers and young professionals, briefly flooding Allston-Brighton, Fenway-Kenmore, and adjacent neighborhoods with searchers all at once.

What This Means for Boston Metro Landlords

The September 1st surge is behind you now, and October through December is when Boston's rental market goes quiet fast, price any open vacancy aggressively today, because a unit sitting through November is likely sitting through January. With the metro median at $3,218 and year-over-year growth at 3.78%, you have modest pricing power, but a 45-day average time on market signals that renters are negotiating, so consider locking in a quality tenant now rather than holding out for a higher number heading into winter.

Boston Metro Rent by City — September 2026

Burlington leads the Boston metro in leasing speed, averaging just 12 days on market in September, well ahead of second-place Woburn at 20 days and third-place Waltham at 23. At the other end of the table, Brookline was the slowest market at 58 days, with Boston and Somerville close behind at 52 days each. Both Somerville and Waltham posted modest month-over-month rent increases of +0.9% and +0.8%, respectively. Outside Burlington and Woburn, most cities in the Boston metro were leasing in 35 days or more, pointing to a broadly tenant-friendly environment heading into fall.

• Boston, MA: Allston-Brighton and Fenway-Kenmore absorb the bulk of September 1st demand from students, healthcare workers, and biotech researchers, but that seasonal surge didn't prop up rents citywide. Boston's median rent slipped 0.4% month-over-month to $3,212 in September, and homes sat on market for 52 days, suggesting the broader softening in leasing demand is outweighing the usual back-to-school bounce.

• Cambridge, MA: Cambridge draws biotech researchers, academics, and graduate students year-round, anchored by its dense concentration of universities and life-sciences employers. Median rent dipped a modest 0.5% month-over-month to $3,463, but the 2.4% year-over-year gain shows the market is still ahead of where it was a year ago, even if September leasing slowed to 49 days on market.

• Somerville, MA: Somerville posted the strongest monthly rent growth of any inner-ring city in September, up 0.9% to a $3,475 median, with a 5.7% year-over-year gain that outpaces most of its neighbors. At 52 days on market, homes aren't flying off the shelf, but rent direction here is clearly upward.

• Brookline, MA: Brookline posted a flat month-over-month rent figure at $3,863, but the 6.2% year-over-year gain is among the strongest in the metro, which points to sustained, durable demand rather than a short-term spike. The 58-day DOM is the longest of any city in this table, so price carefully: tenants here are deliberate shoppers at this price point.

• Newton, MA: Newton's median rent rose 0.6% month-over-month to $3,552, and homes leased in just 41 days, noticeably faster than Brookline or Boston proper at similar or higher price points. The 2.1% year-over-year gain is modest, but the combination of rising rents and relatively quick absorption suggests steady, if unspectacular, demand.

• Watertown, MA: Watertown held flat month-over-month at a $3,000 median and leased in 37 days, a leasing pace that puts it in the faster half of the metro. The 3.4% year-over-year gain is solid without being exceptional, consistent with a market where renter demand is steady but not surging.

• Arlington, MA: Arlington's 10.7% year-over-year rent gain is the highest of any city in this table, a substantial jump that stands out even against a backdrop of metro-wide softening. The market held flat month-over-month at $3,125 and leased in 38 days, so supply remains tight enough to sustain that annual appreciation even without a September pop.

• Medford, MA: Medford posted a flat month-over-month rent at $3,395 and leased in 39 days, a reasonable pace for an inner-ring suburb. The 7.8% year-over-year gain is the second-highest in this table and indicates that Medford has been repricing steadily over the past year, not just benefiting from a one-month surge.

• Waltham, MA: Waltham sits on the I-95/Route 128 corridor that is actively absorbing renters seeking suburban alternatives, and it shows in the leasing speed: 23 days on market in September, faster than all but one city here. Rent ticked up 0.8% month-over-month to $3,081, though the flat year-over-year figure (down 0.1%) suggests the strong absorption is keeping vacancy low without pushing annual rents meaningfully higher.

• Quincy, MA: Quincy was the most affordable city in this table at a $2,583 median, but it was also the weakest performer on rent direction, down 0.2% month-over-month and 2.8% year-over-year. At 35 days on market, homes are moving at a reasonable clip, but the declining rent trend points to softening demand or added supply at this price tier.

• Needham, MA: Needham's 8.4% year-over-year rent decline is the sharpest drop in this entire table, and the 0.4% month-over-month slip to a $3,278 median shows the correction is still in motion. At 35 days on market, absorption isn't terrible, but owners here should price below where they were twelve months ago to avoid extended vacancy.

• Woburn, MA: Woburn held flat month-over-month at a $2,880 median and leased in just 20 days, one of the fastest paces in the metro. The 2.9% year-over-year gain is steady, and the leasing speed at this price point suggests demand from renters priced out of Cambridge and Somerville continues to flow northward.

• Burlington, MA: Burlington led the entire metro in leasing speed with a 12-day DOM in September, and a 1.5% month-over-month dip to a $3,125 median didn't slow that absorption at all. The 5.9% year-over-year gain confirms that Burlington's position on the I-95/Route 128 corridor keeps pulling suburban-seeking renters at a faster rate than almost anywhere else in the table.

• Malden, MA: Malden held flat month-over-month at a $2,800 median, but the 1.0% year-over-year decline puts it in the small group of cities where rents are below last year's levels. At 41 days on market, it's not a slow market, but owners should hold the line on pricing rather than push for increases that the current demand level won't support.

Boston Metro Rent by Bedroom Count and Property Type — September 2026

Rent by Bedroom Count in Boston Metro

Rents across the Boston metro climbed steadily with each bedroom added, spanning $2,387 for studios up to $4,603 for 4-bedroom rentals, a spread of $2,216 from bottom to top. The step-ups between consecutive sizes were fairly consistent through the middle tiers: $355 from studio to 1-bedroom, $530 from 1- to 2-bedroom, and $505 from 2- to 3-bedroom. The biggest jump in the table came at the top, where 4-bedroom rentals priced $826 above 3-bedroom rentals, nearly 60% larger than any other single-step increase. Owners of larger homes across the market can command a meaningful premium, but the gap between 3- and 4-bedroom units is wide enough that pricing strategy matters more at that tier than anywhere else in the range.

Rent by Property Type in Boston Metro

Single-family homes led the Boston metro in September 2026 at a $3,808 median rent, $590 above the blended median and the only type to clear the $3,500 mark. Townhouses came in second at $3,514 and leased fastest of any type at just 18 days, compared to the blended median of 45 days, suggesting strong absorption at that price point. Condos sat close to the blended median at $3,322, while apartments fell $89 below it at $3,129 and took the longest to lease at 50 days. That DOM spread between townhouses (18 days) and apartments (50 days) is the sharpest contrast in the table, a 32-day gap that reflects meaningfully different leasing velocity across property types.

Data Sources & Methodology

• Rental market data: Median rents, days on market, listing counts, and rent change figures. Sourced from county public records, deed and tax assessor data, and rental listings on publicly accessible platforms.
• Doorstead Platform Data: Internal leasing outcomes from Doorstead-managed rental homes across all property types, including days to lease. Trailing 12 months.

Data refreshed monthly. Doorstead benchmarks reflect managed properties only and may not be representative of the broader Boston Metro rental market.