Boston’s residential rental market remained relatively strong in the first half of 2025, with solid demand in the premium sector but slow absorption in the student enclaves, apartment rental agency Boston Pads said in a report.

Renters paid an average of $3,311 for Boston apartments, up 1.44% year-over-year and 7.33% compared to two years ago. These apartments currently spent a median of 31 days on the market.

Larger units saw the greatest price hike compared to 2024, with three-bedroom, four-bedroom and five-bedroom apartment rents up 5.75%, 6.97% and 8.93%, respectively. Prices for one-bedroom apartments fell 1.01% year-over-year.

Currently, Boston’s real-time availability rate sits at 4.31%. That’s a 3.36% increase year-over-year and a 38.59% jump compared to two years ago. Boston’s market saw a peak in early May at 5.61%, a later and higher apex than March 2024’s 5.47% crest.

The real-time vacancy rate remains low at 0.61%, continuing post-pandemic trends. The rate is down 20.78% year over year.

“Based on current trends and apartment data in Boston, it would appear that we’re headed towards a small transition in some of our local apartment rental neighborhoods,” Boston Pads CEO Demetrios Salpoglou said in the report. “Boston’s premium rental markets are showing very strong demand signals, while Boston’s student enclaves have been slow to absorb available rental inventory. For that reason, we expect to see a larger spike in vacancies at the beginning of September than we’ve seen over the past few years.”