I’m working on an article for The Boston Globe about the impact of COVID-19 on the apartment market in Boston. The angle is to look at whether the virus will have an impact beyond the next couple of months and will impact the ability of people to find a rental for September 1st. That’s traditionally the busiest moving day in Boston, particularly because of so many college, grad, med, and law students as well as medical residencies that start in September.
Greater Boston Rental Market
Understanding the Boston rental market depends entirely on how the academic institutions navigate the next 5 months. We are already seeing inquiries for July move dates from incoming medical residents, graduate students, and new young professionals. Real estate agents and landlords have asked us to build new features highlighting inventory for as late as September 1st! Thankfully the virus doesn’t seem to have impacted anyone’s Fall plans yet – or perhaps they are being cautiously optimistic.
While almost everyone is resigned to the current academic year going all-virtual, the biggest uncertainty will be the late spring wave that the market relies on to fill the 12 summer weeks.
Why The Focus on August and September 1st
Landlords, colleges, young professionals, and incoming students are all stumbling through massive uncertainty as they ponder what should be the annual September 1st shuffle. The greater Boston area is one of the most seasonal markets in the country, given the very high percentage of people and organizations tied to the academic calendar. The popular moving season is June 1st through September 1st.
Even if you are not a student or young professional moving into the city for the first time, most of the rental inventory revolves around the same dates, so even long-time Bostonians have synchronized their lease renewal dates out of necessity.
Summer Sublet Period
Another interesting aspect of the Boston market. It has one of the most established summer sublet markets in the country, even more so than New York. In addition to summer internship found in most metro areas, almost all the large universities have summer program to onboard thousands of students and supporting staff who will stay 12 weeks. There is a natural gap to fill the months between graduation in June and the beginning of the job and academic year in September. Sometimes landlords will allow a lease to begin in late May or early June, but then add a stub month so it renews on August 1st.
Virus Impacts
We are seeing more concessions from landlords to adapt to the virus. There are already many advertisements for September 1st move-in, “No Broker Fee” and “Virtual Tour Available“. Unfortunately, the demand is still in a wait-and-see mode. Even though September is so far away, there is still a little uncertainty over whether everything will be back to normal in 4 months. And what is the new normal going to look like? Will on-campus housing at the dorms and fraternities drastically change, impacting the entire city’s inventory?
Will the summer programs be cancelled or virtual this year, leading to an earlier than usual scramble for landlords trying to fill vacancies? Many students asked their students to vacate campus, and in some cases international students had no good options other than to break their leases and go home.
