Boston’s unofficial move in day of September 1 has come and gone, and like a U-Haul truck on Storrow Drive, some landlords find themselves stuck. They are stuck with vacant properties.
“This September 1 came in with more inventory. The city itself right today has about 16.79% more inventory than it did one year ago today,” said Demetrius Salpoglou, CEO of Boston Pads.
He says the vacancies are due to a lack of international college students this year, and in particular, near colleges with graduate programs in math and science.
“It’s very acute in certain neighborhoods, but some other neighborhoods you’re not seeing much impact at all,” said Salpoglou.
Four areas banger hardest
Boston Pads data shows four areas have been banger the hardest. They are Mission Hill, Fort Hill, Fenway, and the Symphony area.
Symphony is typically a highly contested real estate market this time of the year. Boston Pads stats show last year it had a .59% vacancy rate around this time, but this year it’s almost 2%.
Surprisingly, you won’t find Allston or Brighton on the list even though those neighborhoods are arguably the hottest college rental spots in the city.
“In Allston, we saw a lot of landlords really get ahead of this, they were paying the fees earlier in the year. They did a better job at reducing prices and offering fees and incentives,” said Salpoglou. “So, they’re in much better shape.”
Overall, he says 69% of landlords in the greater Boston area are today paying for broker fees, with some also lowering prices.
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