In Cities across the country, the rapid new Apartment construction boom of the past five years has begun to create a housing glut. Landlords, faced with higher vacancy rates, are now looking to attract new tenants any way they can – many times through flexible lease terms, offers of free rent, and other concessions. But which cities exactly are seeing the most deals? We examined a sample of over 200,000 listings from Zumper’s active inventory in December 2017 to pinpoint the best markets for renters in America.

To do this, we searched for listings and buildings offering deals such as free rent, reduced security deposits, gift cards, Netflix/cable subscriptions, and even Uber credit. We then found the total percentage of “concession listings” relative to the total amount of inventory in that city. The following are the 25 cities across America with the largest percentage of these apartment deals.

Cities with the Most Apartment Concession Deals

1. Winston-Salem, NC – 6.81%

Coming in first in our study is Winston-Salem with almost 7% of all available inventory offering a concession deal. Despite rapid migration to the city, construction has reached the highest level in the past 15 years, with Winston-Salem Planning & Development Services quoting $255 million in new residential construction in 2016. In other words, deal hunting renters will have increased power when searching for an apartment.

2. Lincoln, NE – 6.09%

At just over 6% of all listings offering a deal, Lincoln comes in second on our list. The most common concessions in the city included free rent, reduced security deposits, and more flexible lease terms.

3. New York, NY – 5.52%

After a rapid increase in prices over the past few years, new construction in NYC has finally reached a tipping point, giving renters more power to negotiate. New luxury developments in some cases have offered up to 2 or 3 months of free rent, while also throwing in gift cards and other perks. While more affordable apartments are always scarce in the city, the majority of deals can be found in new construction apartments.

4. Greensboro, NC – 5.05%

Considering Winston-Salem’s top spot, it makes sense that nearby Greensboro comes in fourth on our list with 5% of inventory offering a deal. Similar to Winston-Salem, new apartment supply has exceeded demand, despite strong migration into the area.

5. Des Moines, IA – 4.53%

This past year, Des Moines saw over 4,000 new apartments come to market in Downtown alone. The area is expected to also receive another 2,000 new units by mid 2018, so look for offerings to increase in 2018.

Full Results

The post The 25 Cities With the Most Apartment Deals appeared first on The Zumper Blog.