@Taylor Lydon
Hi Taylor,
I've been doing a lot of hunting for multi-family units over the last 3-4 months in the northern parts of the Boston suburban areas . I haven't seen anything hitting the 1% rule. The average I'm seeing is closer to .7% in the nicer suburban areas. You can get closer to .8% and 1% in Brockton, Dorchester, Worcester, Lynn, Revere, and Lowell. However, these areas are more class B,C (maybe a warzone or two) areas and may not suite your criteria for evaluations of neighborhoods.
The problem with the Boston market is while the area is considered "hot" the supply can't keep up with the demand. Additionally, there are lots of restrictions on the land in the area. Said differently, you can't build anymore until there is strong re-zoning reforms put in place. This will probably keep the area hot for a while as there is continued strong job growth in finance and tech. Even if there is a down turn most areas around the Boston will be impacted less than the nation average. We saw this in 07 - Areas closer to Boston were less volatile than the average market (excluding some class B/C areas with tougher neighborhoods like revere,lynn, etc.). This strong attribute is being reflected in the current Cap rates around the Boston metro areas.