Mission Hill Rent Prices Flatten - Look to Rebound in 2021

The apartment rental market in Mission Hill is heavily reliant on the local student population. It’s situated just south of Fenway and Northeastern, providing students quick and easy access to some of Boston’s largest Universities. It’s also considerably less expensive than renting close to these schools and it provides plenty of options for 3 and 4 bedroom apartments so students can save splitting rent.

You would expect rent prices to be in a free fall considering most Universities are offering remote learning and vacancy rates are up 5X year over year. However, rent prices for Mission Hill apartments have only fallen slightly year over year, and nowhere close to the decreases we’ve been seeing closer to Downtown.

• Mission Hill Studio Avg. Rent Price: $1,444
• Mission Hill 1 Bedroom Avg. Rent Price: $1,954
• Mission Hill 2 Bedroom Avg. Rent Price: $2,513
• Mission Hill 3 Bedroom Avg. Rent Price: $3,177
• Mission Hill 4 Bedroom Avg. Rent Price: $3,963

Rent prices in Mission Hill are similar to the nearby neighborhoods of Allston and Fort Hill, which are both also favorites for local students. It is more expensive on average than Brighton, Jamaica Plain, and Roxbury but considerably less expensive than South End, Fenway, and Back Bay.

While rent prices have been falling all over the city, prices have remained relatively stable in Mission Hill. Average rents have dropped by 1.33% on average in Mission Hill year over year despite a sharp increase in inventory. Landlords have been able to keep prices level by offering different concessions such as waiving deposit fees or even providing free months rent, so there’s deals to be had for renters.

Vacant apartments have increased by 528% in Mission Hill year over year, but the number of available apartments locally is up by only 82% compared to 255% city-wide. This suggests that vacancies may have bottomed out in Mission Hill as availability rates are a good indicator of future inventory.

For this reason we expect prices to flatten out in Mission Hill over the next few months as the spring semester progresses. Look for the overall quality of inventory to improve in 2021, as landlords look to renovate and update old outdated apartments that have been vacant for months. We expect the local Universities to be back to near-full capacity in fall which will help the local housing market recover considerably.