Renters searching for an apartment deal won't have to look far.
More than 34% of apartments nationwide are offering some kind of freebie to attract tenants, according to a new report from Zillow.
Apartment rental concessions across the country have zoomed higher in the last year as landlords have scrambled to sign new tenants during the pandemic. The giveaways usually involved periods of free rent, gift cards or other enticements.
More than 41% of apartment properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth are offering concessions. D-FW-area rental incentives have soared from just 23.7% in October 2019.
In the D-FW area, the concessions amount to more than an 11% rent reduction, Zillow analysts estimate.
The increase in apartment freebies has caught the attention of young renters who are moving away from home or into larger apartments to take advantage of the bargain offers.
"The effective savings rate is what renters would save on their typical housing costs over the course of their lease because of both lower rent prices and concessions," Zillow economist Joshua Clark said in the report. "Those savings could be enough to cover the cost difference between a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom unit."
More than half of the rental units in Washington, D.C., Charlotte and San Jose were offering concessions in October, Zillow said.
In Washington, D.C., more than 62% of rental units have concessions.
Among the major Texas metros, the biggest apartment incentive share was in the Austin area at almost 46%. Houston had the fewest apartments offering freebies — about 37% of the market.
Despite the increase in giveaways, Zillow estimates that the quoted monthly rents for D-FW apartments are down only about 1% from a year ago. A typical unit rents for $1,572 a month.
