Boston, MA Multifamily Market Report Year-End 2025

Throughout 2025, Boston’s multifamily activity reflected a market shifting from a demand-led recovery to a supply-managed cycle. Consistent leasing was met by elevated new deliveries, resulting in slight upward pressure on vacancy. Over the past three years, vacancy averaged 5.7%, with 2025 shaped by strong net absorption of 6,000 units alongside 9,100 units of new deliveries. Rent growth slowed to 0.4% for 2025, indicating that Boston’s pricing power moderated, due to availability rather than a decline in demand.

Leasing activity was most evident in submarkets absorbing large volumes of newly delivered units, including Everett/Malden/Medford/Melrose and Route 1, where amenity offerings supported velocity. Demand was also steady in several suburban areas, including Roxbury/Dorchester, South Shore, South Plymouth County, and 495 South, while South Boston/Seaport showed signs of gradual improvement. Meanwhile, Downtown Boston and Harvard/MIT recorded weaker demand, alongside areas like Route 1 South and Lowell/Dracut, suggesting a more bifurcated market where renter preferences, pricing, and product competitiveness are increasingly decisive.

Key Findings

Multifamily demand remained durable throughout 2025, but elevated deliveries kept vacancy drifting upward and capped near-term rent growth.
Despite slower job growth and biotech-related layoffs, Boston’s institutional-grade economic base continued to support steady leasing across several submarkets.
Investment activity improved in late 2025, with multifamily maintaining its position as the preferred asset class for Boston-area capital.

Boston Multifamily Supply & Demand Dynamics

Source: CoStar Group, Inc.

Greater Boston MSA Demographics

Source: CoStar Group, Inc.

Unemployment Rate: 4.4%
Current Population: 5,067,029
Households: 1,998,128
Median Household Income: $118,134

Greater Boston MSA Population, Labor, & Income Growth

Source: CoStar Group, Inc.

Greater Boston MSA Construction

Supply growth remained steady throughout 2025, and development continued to reflect the metro’s long-term institutional appeal, despite higher interest rates and construction cost pressure. The market delivered more than 9,000 units in 2025, marking a five-year high and keeping local inventory expansion broadly in line with national stock growth. Boston recorded around 14,000 units under construction in 2025, representing 4.8% of inventory, below the three-year average. More than one-third of active development is located in northern submarkets near downtown, including around 4,000 units combined across Somerville/Charlestown and Everett/Malden/Medford/Melrose.

Unit Construction Starts

Source: CoStar Group, Inc.

Units Under Construction

Source: CoStar Group, Inc.

Sales

Greater Boston MSA multifamily investment activity for all deal sizes strengthened in late 2025, with quarterly sales volume improving and overall liquidity reaching its highest level since Q2 2022. Over the past year, nearly 14,000 units traded for approximately $4.4 billion in total volume. Market pricing remains a defining feature of Boston’s investment profile, with estimated values around $450,000 per unit, a significant premium to the national benchmark. The buyer mix has evolved, with public and institutional participants accounting for a substantial share of volume over the past three years, while private capital has been especially active on the buy side, often in smaller deal sizes.