Boston rents keep climbing over national average

The average asking rent in Boston is up about 3% from a year earlier and more than 19% from the end of 2019, according to CoStar Group data.

The big picture: A surge in new apartments is helping to ease rent hikes in other major cities, but the national average rent remains 19% higher than pre-pandemic levels, the data shows.

• The average rent for multifamily units in Boston was $3,057 in July, according to data from Zillow. That's up 4.2% over the same month last year.

As the market cools nationally, more property managers are offering renters sweeteners such as free weeks of rent or free parking, per a recent Zillow report.

• 21.7% of Boston rental listings on the platform offered a concession in July, up 7.1 percentage points from a year earlier.
• Analysts at Moody's say concessions are perched at the highest level on record.

What's next: Landlords could raise rents as construction slows and people postpone home purchases .