SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Renters searching for
a new apartment will find nearly 24 percent more move-in specials
now compared to last year, including rent discounts, ride sharing
codes, gift cards and waived deposits, according to a HotPads®
analysis.i
HotPads analyzed apartment listing descriptions in the
San Francisco metro area to find
places where apartment buildings are offering move-in specials for
renters looking to sign a new lease. Nearly 54 percent of listings
with move-in specials in San
Francisco offer rent discounts, while 27 percent offer ride
sharing codes.
Other common offers include free rent for a period of time,
waived deposits or fees, cash bonuses, free parking and gift cards.
Renters can expect to find move-in deals mentioned in about 1 in
100 San Francisco area rental
listings.
The median rent in San
Francisco is $3,395, up 3.3
percent from a year ago. While San
Francisco still has one of the priciest rental markets in
the country, rent growth has slowed in recent months and has not
been higher than 4 percent in over a year. Declines in rent growth
and a rise in the number of move-in specials can come from similar
changes in the market, including influxes of new supply or
decreases in demand.
"San Francisco is known as a
fast-paced market, where renters often face steep competition when
searching for a rental," said Joshua
Clark, economist at HotPads. "However, in suburban areas
south and east of the city, competition is a little lighter, so
property managers sometimes offer move-in incentives to drive
demand. Renters looking to get a deal when they sign their lease
may have more luck searching in areas outside of the city proper,
or in parts of the city with more new construction coming
online."
San Francisco renters will find
the most move-in specials in Alameda, Foster
City and Pleasanton. In
Alameda, nearly 13 percent of all
rental listings mention perks for those signing a lease. In
Foster City, more than 6 percent
of all rental listings offer perks. Rent discounts are the most
common deal offered in Alameda,
followed by ride sharing codes and free streaming services. In
Foster City, rent discounts and
gift cards are the most popular move-in special.
San Francisco's most affordable
apartments offer the most move-in specials -- 39 percent of all
move-in specials offered are among the most affordable
apartments.ii There are 38.5 percent more concessions
offered among the most affordable apartments now compared to last
year, accounting for nearly 1 in every 50 listings.
Within the city of San
Francisco, apartments in the Tenderloin neighborhood offer
the most move-in specials, with almost 18 percent of listings
mentioning bonuses for renters who sign a new lease. Waived
deposits are the most common concession in the Tenderloin.
HotPads is a Zillow Group-owned apartment and home search
platform for renters in urban areas across the United States. For more information on
San Francisco's rental market,
visit HotPads.com.
San Francisco's Rental
Concessions by City
City
|
Median
Rent
|
Percent of
Listings
Offering Concessions,
Q1 2018
|
Most Popular
Concession
|
San Francisco
Metro
Area
|
$3,395
|
1.3%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Alameda,
CA
|
$2,400
|
12.9%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Foster City,
CA
|
$3,458
|
6.4%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Pleasanton,
CA
|
$2,657
|
3.5%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Dublin, CA
|
$2,801
|
2.4%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Redwood City,
CA
|
$3,385
|
1.8%
|
Rent
discounts
|
San Francisco, CA
(city)
|
$3,700
|
1.4%
|
Ride sharing
codes
|
Walnut Creek,
CA
|
$2,700
|
1.2%
|
Rent
discounts
|
San Mateo,
CA
|
$3,000
|
1.1%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Oakland,
CA
|
$2,500
|
1.0%
|
Rent
discounts
|
Berkeley,
CA
|
$2,895
|
1.0%
|
Gift cards
|
Rental Concessions in the San
Francisco Metro
Tieriii
|
Percent of
Listings Offering
Concessions, Q1 2018
|
YoY
Change
|
All
rentals
|
1.3%
|
23.6%
|
Bottom
|
1.9%
|
38.5%
|
Middle
|
1.3%
|
22.3%
|
Top
|
0.7%
|
-1.1%
|
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 San Francisco 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 HotPads defines San
Francisco's most affordable apartments as those in the least
expensive third of the rental market.
iii Each tier contains one-third of the rentals in
the San Francisco metro area.
Rentals are divided into the bottom, middle and top tiers based on
their asking rent.
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SOURCE Hotpads, Inc.