Boston, MA Multifamily Market Report Q3 2026

Rent Reaches a Record $3,189, Yet Demand Trails New Supply

Demand

Boston posted net absorption of -210 units in Q3 2026, against 472 in the same quarter last year. Vacancy is 4.2%, 23 bps looser than Q3 2025. Intown Boston is both the tightest submarket at 3.1% vacancy and the rent growth leader at +3.1%. Trailing-12-month absorption of 4,134 units is down from 10,754 a year earlier.

Supply

Boston recorded 948 units of completions in Q3 and 5,241 over the trailing twelve months (-29% versus the prior TTM period). Units under construction equal 1.7% of inventory, concentrated in Waltham/Newton/Lexington at 3.9% of its stock. Annual completions peaked at 8,821 units in 2020. The 7,145-unit pipeline equals about seven quarters of absorption at the trailing pace.

Investment Market

Boston recorded $10.5B in sales over the trailing twelve months, +135% against the prior TTM period; Q3 accounted for $7.11B. The high-water mark in this series is $8.9B in 2026. Q3 volume is 6.4 times the prior four-quarter average and likely reflects entitylevel activity from the AvalonBay and Equity Residential merger, which also sets the 2026 high.

Boston cap rates average 5.32%, up for 20 straight quarters. Pricing sits at $402k per unit, higher for 2 consecutive years.