Bay State rents are on the rise according to two different sources.

The Boston area saw a 3.3% increase in rents over 2007 according to data compiled by Investment Instruments and their online application, rentometer. This is inline with what we would normally expect or hope for but in fact for several years rents were going the wrong way (if you’re a landlord) mainly due to the boom in home purchases, largely financed through what have proven to be unrealistic loans.

MSNBC reports the following:

To calculate these prices, Investment Instruments culled data from among eight million entries in its Rentometer and Rentomatic rental listing directories, said Allison Atsiknoudas, Investment Instruments’ CEO. While prices for single-family homes and condos have declined or slowed between 2007 and 2008 in major markets, the rental market hasn’t necessarily followed suit.

Atsiknoudas says that when rent prices move less than three percent (in either direction) per year, then a market is basically “stable.” Larger fluctuations — such as Phoenix’s nine percent drop— indicate instability or unusual circumstances. Atsiknoudas says that cities with the largest price hikes — New York, Seattle, and San Francisco — can attribute that to steady population growth driven by relocating job seekers. But that means renters, both new to town or long a part of it, are paying the price.

At the same time another source with a distinctly different take and agenda has come up with the same conclusion. The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reports:

A report released yesterday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that rents crept up again across Massachusetts over the past year, making it even tougher for low-income families to keep a roof over their heads.

I guess how good or bad this news is depends on your perspective….don’t it?
The map below is borrowed from the Telegram.