Nearly 2 in 5 U.S. Rental Listings Now Come With a Deal

Concession share on Zillow reached a record 39.8% this spring — up roughly 5 percentage points year over year, and more than double the pre-pandemic norm of about 1 in 6 listings.

Buying occupancy instead of cutting rent

The incentive wave is a direct read on oversupply: a national vacancy rate hovering near 7% has pushed operators to buy occupancy with free rent and waived fees rather than cut face rents. For operators, the takeaway is that headline rent stability masks real revenue erosion — effective rent is being handed back at the concession line, and our own concession index shows the deepest usage in Class C.