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- Zillow said 30% of rental listings offer some sort of concession to prospective renters.
- That's up from 24% a year ago as a construction boom is giving tenants more options.
- The greater prevalence of concessions may be a signal that rent growth is about to level off, Zillow said.
More rental listings are offering sweetened deals, as an influx in freshly constructed properties gives prospective tenants more options.
Zillow said 30% of rental listings now offer at least one concession, up from 24% a year ago. They include perks like free months of rent or parking.
While rent is still going up, the greater prevalence of concessions may be a signal that rent growth is about to level off, Zillow said.
Meanwhile, the housing markets that have seen the biggest increases in rental concessions are areas where construction of multifamily developments have jumped, such as in Phoenix and Atlanta, the real-estate company added.
Nationally, residential construction has picked through the year, as developers race to ease a supply crunch in the property market.
Construction activity has continued through October, with 408,000 multi-family units added, according to new Census Bureau data on Friday.
"Multifamily completions were the highest in the first and second quarters of 2023 since the late 1980s. Multifamily units under construction in October were only down 1% from July's record high, and up by half from late 2019. The residential rental market will continue to see big influxes of multifamily supply in late 2023 and in 2024," Comerica Bank Chief Economist Bill Adams said after the report's release.
But it hasn't been enough to lower rent yet, Zillow noted. Rent rose 3.2% year over year last month, though it was within the typical range of 3%-5%.
In similar style, homeowners looking to sell their properties have also increasingly turned to concessions for buyers. That's as high mortgage rates and elevated home prices decimated demand.