Now, the apartment availability rate in Fenway is 3.66%, down -26.25% from its pre-COVID mark recorded in February 2020. Even more impressive is the fact that Fenway’s real-time vacancy rate (RTVR) is down -81.65% during the same 2 year time span. The current vacancy rate of 0.20% is the 3rd lowest in Metro Boston behind Symphony (0.09%) and Fort Hill (0.03%).
| Neighborhood | RTVR Feb ’22 | RTVR Feb ’20 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fenway | 0.20% | 1.09% | -81.65% |
| City of Boston | 0.72% | 1.15% | -37.39% |
Both the current RTAR and RTVR are the lowest supply levels we’ve ever recorded in Fenway. In fact, the -81.65% drop in RTVR more than doubles that of Boston apartments, which is down 37.39% since February 2020.
Average Rent Prices in Fenway 2022
Since the pandemic began, Fenway’s average rent prices have dropped by a larger margin than most neighborhoods in Boston. Comparing current average rent figures to 2 years ago, we see that Fenway’s average rent price has dropped by -4.17% over that time span, the 3rd highest decrease in the city behind Mattapan (-6.44%) and Charlestown (-5.12%). Boston’s overall average rent dropped by a much smaller margin (-1.37%) during that time.
| Neighborhood | Avg. Rent Price Feb ’22 | Average Rent Price Feb ’20 | % Change |
| Fenway | $3,156 | $3,273 | -3.59% |
| City of Boston | $2,638 | $2,273 | -1.29% |
Despite the rent decrease, Fenway’s average rent price of $3,115 is nearly $500 more than Boston’s average ($2,632). Fenway ranks as the 6th most expensive neighborhood to rent an apartment in Boston based on these most recent average rent figures.
Fenway’s record low apartment inventory could be a result of the reduced pricing and landlord incentives that were typical of the past 2 years. At one point, landlords were offering to waive broker’s fees in as many as 75% of available apartments, which usually only occurs in 4-5% of leases in a healthy market. These highly incentivized apartment deals encouraged more people to rent in Fenway and drew people from a wider geographic…