As the greater Atlanta area’s rental market continues to prosper in the aftermath of the pandemic, property managers are extending benefits to renters in attempts to set their apartment communities apart from those of competitors.
In a November research report from Zillow, Atlanta was listed as the metro area offering the 10th largest share of rental concessions to prospective tenants, joining similarly expanding cities Phoenix, Nashville and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Rental concessions can appeal to target demographics by offering monetary or service-based privileges when leasing with a specific company, including, but not limited to, complimentary utilities, discounts on rent and free or discounted access to various on-site or off-site amenities.
Per Zillow data, 43.5% of the metro area’s rental properties offer concessions to potential renters, a statistic that has increased by 15.2 percentage points since 12 months prior. To compare, around 30% of Zillow’s national database of rental listings was advertised to offer concessions to renters this past October.
Anushna Prakash, an economic research data scientist at Zillow, said in the report that an increase in available supply sparked by a surge in multifamily property construction gives renters more leverage in the market, encouraging property managers to grant renters additional benefits to gain their tenancy.
“The pandemic era’s increase in concessions was a direct response to decreased renter demand. Currently, we’re witnessing a different scenario where the demand for rental housing is high, but there’s been a notable rise in supply,” Prakash said. “To differentiate themselves from newer, potentially more amenity-rich apartment buildings, property managers are stepping up their game, offering more incentives to attract potential renters with a broader range of choices.”
This correlation is especially evident in Atlanta. According to a mid-year construction update from private student lender Sallie Mae, Atlanta saw approximately 35,000 rental units completed in the years 2022 and 2023 combined. An additional 14,573 units are slated for completion in 2024 and another 2,851 units are on deck for thereafter.
This study, featuring data from Dodge Data & Analytics, predicts that Atlanta will house more than 52,000 additional rental units delivered since 2022.
Per this metric, the metro area also ranks sixth overall for multifamily rental construction progress in the nation, falling only behind New York City, Washington, D.C. and three of Texas’ hottest housing markets: Houston, Austin and Dallas.
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