Apartment Rents Rise; Perks, Discounts Fade

Median asking rent rose 1.1% on an annual basis in March to $1,463 a month across the country’s 50 largest markets, according to a report from Realtor.com. That marked the first month where the pace of rent growth had increased since last summer, the report showed. The Covid-19 vaccine rollout and rising employment are prompting more people to move back into cities and look for apartments to rent, which is helping landlords fill their empty apartments with fewer, if any, freebies. Landlords in much of the country had cut asking rents during the pandemic. Many also offered concessions—from one or two months of free rent to American Express gift cards—to keep tenants in their buildings during Covid-19. Many renters, especially in large cities, stopped renewing their leases. They left to buy homes, or if they lost jobs, to move in with friends or family. Before the pandemic, landlords had enjoyed years of uninterrupted rent increases. https://www.wsj.com/articles/apartment-rents-rise-perks-discounts-fade-11619256601