In Boston, 13 renters want the same apartment. In Providence, it’s 17.

Fewer Boston-area renters decided to renew their leases in 2023, report indicates.

Greater Boston saw a 1.83% increase in new apartment construction in 2023, according to an analysis by RentCafe. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

By Caroline Bunnell

December 18, 2023

Amid intense competition between renters and a lack of inventory, Greater Boston is the 17th hottest rental market in the country, according to RentCafe’s 2023 Year End Report.

In the study, released Dec. 11, Miami-Dade County landed at No. 1, thanks to an influx of new renters, a lack of inventory, and its thriving business and technology scenes.

The top 10 hottest rental markets, according to the analysis, were:

Rank	Market	Occupied apartments	Prospective renters	Lease renewal rate	Share of new units
1	Miami-Dade County	96.9%	22	71.2%	3.7%
2	North Jersey	96.3%	14	70.5%	2.0%
3	Milwaukee	95.8%	14	69.6%	2.9%
4	Grand Rapids, Mich.	95.5%	10	69.9%	1.0%
5	Suburban Chicago	95.3%	14	66.7%	1.6%
6	Omaha, Neb.	96.0%	13	63.9%	2.7%
7	Broward County	95.3%	13	66.4%	1.4%
8	Suburban Philadelphia	94.7%	11	75.4%	0.9%
9	Brooklyn	96.1%	9	64.6%	0.9%
10	Central Jersey	95.9%	9	82.5%	1.7%

RentCafe

In Greater Boston, the percentage of renters renewing their leases decreased from 63.5% in 2022 to 58.7% in 2023.

Here is how the Greater Boston rental market measured up:

Rank		Average vacant days	Occupied apartments	Prospective renters	Share of new units
17		35	95.3%	13	1.8%

RentCafe

The Bridgeport-New Haven also represented New England, ranking as the 12 hottest market:

Rank	Occupied apartments	Prospective renters	Lease renewal rate	Share of new units
12	95.7%	14	62.3%	1.9%

RentCafe

For small rental markets, three New England cities ranked among the top:

Rank	Market	Occupied apartments	Prospective renters	Lease renewal rate	Share of new units
2	Providence	96.6%	17	67.9%	0.0%
4	Portland, Maine	96.9%	20	66.7%	1.7%
21	Worcester-Springfield	95.7%	13	60.8%	0.8%

RentCafe

To create the rankings, RentCafe compared apartment data across 139 major cities. Multifamily properties of at least 50 units were included in the study. The markets were then ranked based on five criteria:

Apartment occupancy rate
Average total days vacant
Prospective renters per vacant unit
Renewal lease rate
Share of new apartments completed during the same timeframe compared with the overall supply at the end of December 2022