92 Studio Apartments for rent in Needham, MA
February 2020 Needham Rent Report
Welcome to the February 2020 Needham Rent Report. Needham rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Needham rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
February 2020 Needham Rent Report
Welcome to the February 2020 Needham Rent Report. Needham rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Needham rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
Needham rents declined moderately over the past month
Needham rents have declined 0.3% over the past month, and are down significantly by 3.6% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Needham stand at $1,285 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,593 for a two-bedroom. This is the fourth straight month that the city has seen rent decreases after an increase in September of last year. Needham's year-over-year rent growth lags the state average of 2.1%, as well as the national average of 1.6%.
Rents rising across cities in Massachusetts
While rent decreases have been occurring in the city of Needham over the past year, cities in the rest of the state are seeing the opposite trend. Rents have risen in 9 of the largest 10 cities in Massachusetts for which we have data. The state as a whole logged rent growth of 2.1% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the state.
- Looking throughout the state, Cambridge is the most expensive of all Massachusetts' major cities, with a median two-bedroom rent of $2,315; of the 10 largest cities in the state that we have data for, Brockton, where a two-bedroom goes for $1,491, is the only other major city besides Needham to see rents fall year-over-year (-3.1%).
- Somerville, Cambridge, and Lawrence have all experienced year-over-year growth above the state average (4.5%, 3.8%, and 3.5%, respectively).
Many large cities nationwide show more affordable rents compared to Needham
As rents have fallen significantly in Needham, many large cities nationwide have seen prices increase, in some cases substantially. Compared to most large cities across the country, Needham is less affordable for renters.
- Needham's median two-bedroom rent of $1,593 is above the national average of $1,193. Nationwide, rents have grown by 1.6% over the past year compared to the 3.6% decline in Needham.
- While rents in Needham fell significantly over the past year, many cities nationwide saw increases, including Phoenix (+3.7%), Dallas (+2.4%), and Seattle (+1.8%).
- Renters will generally find more expensive prices in Needham than most large cities. For example, Detroit has a median 2BR rent of $898, where Needham is more than one-and-a-half times that price.
For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.
Methodology - Recent Updates:
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Methodology:
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
About Rent Reports:
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.