SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Renters
searching for a new apartment in Chicago will find nearly 18 percent more
move-in specials now compared to last year, including rent
discounts, gift cards, ride sharing codes and free streaming
service subscriptions, according to a HotPads®
analysis.i
HotPads analyzed apartment listing descriptions in the
Chicago metro area to find the
number of listings mentioning concessions, or move-in specials
offered to renters signing new leases. More than 67 percent of
listings with move-in specials in Chicago offer rent discounts for those who
sign a new lease, while more than 14 percent offer gift cards.
Other common offers include free rent for a period of time,
waived deposits or fees, cash bonuses and gift cards. Renters can
expect to find move-in specials in about 1 in 100 Chicago area rental listings.
The median rent in Chicago is
$1,757, up 2 percent from a year ago.
The median rent has not increased by more than $100 in nearly two years.ii Flattening
rent growth and a rise in the number of move-in specials can come
from similar changes in the market – both can be caused by an
influx of new supply or a decrease in demand.
"As rent in Chicago remains
steady and property managers look to attract qualified renters to
their listings, the number of move-in specials is on the rise,"
said Joshua Clark, economist at
HotPads. "In Chicago, move-in deals are more common at the high end
of the market, where demand is lower and supply is higher,
especially because new construction is typically priced at the
higher end. Renters looking to capitalize on this growing trend are
more likely to find move-in specials in Chicago's northern suburban cities, but they
are also becoming more common in the city's northern
neighborhoods."
Move-in specials are offered in 39 percent of Crest Hill, IL rental listings -- far more
than any other city in the Chicago
metro. Gift cards are more common than any other concession in
Crest Hill, followed by discounts
on rent. Gift cards are the most popular perk for renters in
Chicago's University
Village/Little Italy neighborhood, where 1 in 10 rental listings
mention a lease-signing bonus.
HotPads is a Zillow Group-owned apartment and home search
platform for renters in urban areas across the United States. For more information on
Chicago's rental market, visit
HotPads.com.
Rental Concessions
by City
|
City
|
Median
Rent
|
Percent of
Listings Offering
Concessions, Q1 2018
|
Most Popular
Concession
|
Chicago Metro
Area
|
$1,757
|
0.8%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Crest Hill,
IL
|
$1,075
|
39.0%
|
Gift cards
|
Naperville,
IL
|
$1,590
|
5.8%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Glenview,
IL
|
$2,200
|
5.5%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Glendale
Heights, IL
|
$1,230
|
5.4%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Arlington
Heights, IL
|
$1,506
|
5.2%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Schaumburg,
IL
|
$1,430
|
4.9%
|
Gift cards
|
Waukegan,
IL
|
$1,000
|
2.9%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Aurora, IL
|
$1,470
|
2.8%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Chicago, IL
(city)
|
$1,650
|
0.9%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Oak Park,
IL
|
$1,489
|
0.8%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Rental Concessions
in the Chicago Metro
|
Tier
|
Percent of
Listings Offering
Concessions, Q1 2018
|
YoY
Change
|
All
rentals
|
0.8%
|
2.6%
|
Bottom
|
0.9%
|
23.9%
|
Middle
|
1.3%
|
25.1%
|
Top
|
1.0%
|
17.9%
|
HotPads
HotPads is an efficient rental search platform for urban areas
across the United States, with
features designed for competitive markets such as map-based search,
real-time notifications and detailed information on landlords and
property managers that help renters spend less time searching and
more time feeling excited about their next home.
Launched in 2005, HotPads is based in San Francisco and is owned and operated by
Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z and ZG).
HotPads is a registered trademark of Zillow, Inc.
i HotPads analyzed apartment listing descriptions in
the Chicago metro area to find the
number of listings mentioning concessions in the first quarter of
2018. For the purpose of this analysis, concessions were defined as
perks in the rental listing description offered to renters signing
a new lease. The full list of concessions analyzed includes: free
rent (i.e. mentions of free weeks/months of rent, or listings
mentioning "no rent for" a length of time), waived deposits, cash
bonuses, gift cards, no rent increases for a length of time, ride
sharing promo codes, and free streaming service subscriptions
(including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime).
ii Chicago rents have
remained in the $1,700 to
$1,800 range for the last 22
months
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SOURCE Hotpads, Inc.