Renting

Boston ranks No. 19 of top 20 metros for new apartment construction

Boston proper is set to welcome 1,813 new apartment units in 2024.

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August 28, 2024

2 minutes to read

The Boston metro area made the top 20 list for the highest number of new apartment units slated to hit the market by the end of 2024, according to a report RentCafe published on Aug. 7. About 8,022 newly constructed apartment units are projected in the Boston rental market, according to the report.

The metro area ranks No. 19 on the nationwide list in terms of total volume of new apartment construction. Eleven metros and the District of Columbia outrank the Boston area. Metros like Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Austin, and Dallas are projected to build more than double the inventory of metro Boston, according to the report.

“This surge in new apartments in Boston is largely due to the metro’s booming life science sector, which is driving up demand for housing,” the report stated.

Here’s the top 20 list of metro areas for new apartment construction in 2024:

RANK	US METRO AREA	NUMBER OF NEW APARTMENTS
1.	New York City	32,935
2.	Dallas	32,932
3.	Austin , Texas	21,506
4.	Phoenix	20,141
5.	Atlanta	18,520
6.	Houston	18,301
7.	Washington, D.C.	15,079
8.	Charlotte, N.C.	14,658
9.	Miami	14,177
10.	Denver	12,913
11.	Nashville	12,192
12.	Seattle	11,842
13.	Tampa	11,111
14.	Orlando	10,732
15.	San Antonio	9,617
16.	Raleigh, N.C.	9,228
17.	Los Angeles	8,924
18.	Minneapolis	8,840
19.	Boston	8,022
20.	Portland, Ore.	7,499

Source: RentCafe.com

The apartment search website analyzed new construction data across US metropolitan areas, according to the methodology. The data exclusively included buildings containing 50 or more units and was provided by Yardi Matrix, a national real estate asset management and business development firm.

“Apartment projections are estimates and subject to change. Actual apartment completion dates depend upon a variety of factors and may change,” the methodology states.

Locally, Boston proper leads the list with 1,813 new units by the end of 2024, followed by Plymouth (640), and Wakefield (613). Revere (589) and Quincy (569) took fourth and fifth place.

Here’s a breakdown of new apartment construction for metro Boston in 2024:

RANK	CITIES	NUMBER OF NEW APARTMENTS IN 2024
1.	Boston	1,813
2.	Plymouth	640
3.	Wakefield	613
4.	Revere	589
5.	Quincy	569
6.	Salem	488
7.	Manchester, N.H.	314

Source: RentCafe.com

The report also analyzed apartment construction projections for the next five years, and the findings suggest that by 2028, 2 million apartments are set to come online in the US rental market. In metro Boston, the number is 35,700.

The New York metro area leads almost every list in the study with a total of 32,935 new apartment units to be constructed by the end of 2024. In the next five years, the metro is set to welcome 150,327 units, which is 34,120 units more than the past five years.

On the flip side, metro Boston also made the top 20 list of places with the biggest decrease in completed apartments in a five-year comparison. Between 2019 and 2023, 39,859 apartments were completed in metro Boston, and in the next five years, 35,772 units are expected to be completed. This reflects a 4,087-unit decrease, placing the metro in the 16th position.

Houston leads the list with 28,187 fewer apartments projected to be completed in the next five years as compared to the past.

“We don’t make enough inventory,” said Demetrios Salpoglou, CEO of Boston Pads, a real estate and apartment-finding portal. When there is a lot of competition between apartments, the prices go down, Salpoglou added.

But for Salpoglou, there is a big difference between getting permits issued and actually breaking ground.

“I don’t have that much faith in projected numbers. I have faith when I see a crane on a construction site,” he said.