The 1.3 percent increase across all neighborhoods compared with a 3.3 jump during the previous year.

The cost of renting an apartment in Boston last year rose, on average, by the lowest percentage since the city began tracking prices in 2014, according to data released Tuesday by Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s administration.

A city analysis found that average rents for some apartments in several neighborhoods either remained the same or actually dropped slightly. For example, rents decreased for one-bedroom apartments in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Charlestown, and South Boston, while there was no change in the average rent for most apartments in Roxbury.


Walsh cited the data as evidence the city’s efforts to ease Boston’s housing crisis by increasing the number of affordable homes available to renters is starting to make a difference.

"The stabilization of rents across our neighborhoods demonstrates our housing plan in action,” he said in a statement. “While I know we have more work to do to keep pace with the demand for affordable housing, I am encouraged by this milestone, and look forward to keeping up this momentum.”

The city said that it has issued permits for more than 23,000 rental units, including 24 percent restricted to low- and middle-income households.

Walsh has said $500 million will be spent over five years to build and maintain thousands of affordable apartments throughout the city.