Concessions cool as spring rental season approaches

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[{"type":"text","content":"Property managers' race to woo tenants eases, signaling a tighter market for renters this spring\nSEATTLE, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After a winter that saw nearly a third of rental listings offering tenants tempting concessions such as free months of rent or free parking, Zillow's latest data reveals the share of rentals offering perks may have hit its peak. The good news for renters is that the market is friendlier than it was a year ago, with the share of rentals offering a concession rising 5.6 percentage points.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nAs spring approaches, February data show 32.2% of rental listings on Zillow offered a concession, down slightly from December and up 5.6 percentage points from a year earlier. That marks the slowest annual growth pace since last June. After seven months of consecutive monthly increases to end 2023, the share of rentals offering concessions fell to 31.9% in January before a slight uptick last month.\nIf past seasonal trends continue to hold, renters looking to secure a new lease in the upcoming spring or summer may encounter fewer incentives and increased competition.\n\"The rental market always ebbs and flows with the seasons, so it's no shock that we're seeing concessions start to level off as we move into the warmer months,\" said Anushna Prakash, an economic research data scientist at Zillow. \"It looks like we're beginning to see the market balance the ongoing high demand from renters with a competitive environment for property managers and landlords. While concessions are beginning to dip, they are more common than they were a year ago, helped by new buildings that have opened their doors.\"\nWhile the expected seasonal shift accounts for the stabilization of concessions, the pace of rent growth and vacancy levels offer deeper insights. Recently, rents haven't been going up as quickly as they did before the pandemic, and it looks like supply and demand are starting to balance out. The share of rental housing units that were vacant was at 6.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023, which is just a bit higher than the nearly forty-year low seen at the end of 2021. This indicates there are enough eager renters, nudging the market toward stability.\nThe Metros Leading the Concession Charge\nDespite the national trend toward stabilization, certain markets continue to lead with high shares of c...

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