Watertown Apartment Average Rent Prices
Watertown’s average rent price has dropped by a small margin year-over-year, but it has faired better than the rest of the Greater Boston Area. Watertown apartments saw a -2.87% decline in average rent prices since July 2020, which is a smaller drop-off than the -4.61% YOY decline in rent prices Greater Boston experienced. This reflects a dominate trend in neighborhood data where suburban neighborhoods in Boston saw much less market disruption through the pandemic than those centered in the urban and University neighborhoods in Boston.
The average rent in Watertown, MA is currently $2,185. On average, it costs $1,938 to rent a 1 bedroom apartment, which ranks as the fourth highest average rent price for 1 bedroom apartments among all of Boston Metro’s suburbs. A 2 bedroom apartment has an average rent price of $2,106, which ranks 9th out of the 14 suburbs closest to Boston.
Watertown’s average rent price is lower than the average for all of Boston Metro’s suburbs by 10-20% for most size units, with the exception of 1 bedroom apartments. The average rent price in Boston’s suburban neighborhoods is $1,951 for a 1 bedroom apartment and $2,398 for a 2 bedroom unit. Boston apartments tend to over 20% more expensive than Watertown for units sized 2 bedroom and up. Prices in Arlington are similar to the average rent prices in Medford MA.
The per-unit data suggests that Watertown is an affordable place to rent a larger apartment, however prices for smaller units tend to be more closely aligned with the Metro average.
YOY Changes in Watertown Apartment Prices
Watertown’s average rent price has dipped 2.42% since July of 2020. These price reductions were a direct result of soaring vacancies related to the pandemic, and in particular remote learning. Watertown’s apartment rental market is depended on the demand for off campus housing, so remote learning policies had an adverse affect on rental supply.
Remote learning has been scaled down considerably for Fall 2021 at most of Boston’s local Universities, so demand has been restored in this area. Prices are back on an upward trajectory, so expect rent prices in Watertown to be up YOY by December when apartment availability hits its cyclical low.
