Medford Rental Market 2022 Forecast
At first glance, it appears that Medford’s rental market is primed for a breakout as we head towards 2023. Medford’s RTAR is as low as it’s ever been in July, and most of the off-campus housing demand from Tuft’s students has yet to come. This will certainly push the RTAR lower through to January as it has always done in Medford.
As a result, rent prices in Medford MA will continue to climb in the short run until 2023. Predicting beyond that becomes difficult, as a recession is imminent if not already underway and its effect on demand have yet to be seen. There are simply too many factors to contend with to predict 2023 rents including how long our horrible national energy policy stays maligned. Interest rates and a complete change in Congress in November could make predicting 2023 even harder. Inflation and a lower labor participation rate due to incoherent work and Fed policy also cloud visibility.
If we do see rent prices drop in Boston’s core neighborhoods in 2023, we believe it will be much less in Medford. If economic conditions worsen, we anticipate renter demand will shift towards Boston’s more affordable apartment rental markets, among them Medford. This will keep Medford’s rental supply lower through the recession, which will in turn keep rent prices from falling as severely, much like it did throughout COVID. We will continue to monitor these rental market trends as they develop.