SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Renters searching for a new apartment in Philadelphia will find nearly 32 percent more move-in specials now compared to last year, including rent discounts, gift cards, ride sharing codes and free streaming services, according to a HotPads® analysis.i

HotPads analyzed apartment listing descriptions in the Philadelphia metro area to find the number of listings mentioning move-in specials. More than 80 percent of listings with move-in specials in Philadelphia offer rent discounts for renters signing a new lease, while nearly 9 percent offer gift cards or ride sharing codes.

Other common offers include mentions of free rent for a period of time, cash bonuses, gift cards and free subscriptions to streaming services. Renters can expect to find move-in deals mentioned in about 1 in 100 Philadelphia area rental listings.

The median rent in Philadelphia is $1,646, up 1.9 percent from a year ago. Philadelphia's median rents are relatively stable; the median rent has stayed between $1,600 and $1,650 every month since October 2016. Flattening rent growth and a rise in the number of move-in specials can come from similar changes in the market – both can be caused by an influx of new supply or a decrease in demand.

"The number of move-in specials in Philadelphia is on the rise as rent growth softens and property managers look to attract qualified renters," said Joshua Clark, economist at HotPads. "In Philadelphia, move-in specials are most common at the high end of the market, but the number of listings mentioning these deals is growing faster among the bottom two thirds of the market. Renters looking to get in on this growing trend are more likely to find move-in deals in Philadelphia's suburban cities such as Limerick, where competition for apartments is typically lighter."

Philadelphia's outer suburbs have the most move-in deals. Within the city of Philadelphia, apartments in the Mount Airy West neighborhood offer the most move-in specials, with nearly 13 percent of listings mentioning bonuses for renters who sign a new lease. Gift cards are the most common concession in Mount Airy West.

HotPads is a Zillow Group-owned apartment and home search platform for renters in urban areas across the United States. For more information on Philadelphia's rental market, visit HotPads.com.

Rental Concessions in the Philadelphia Area by City

Rental Concessions in the Philadelphia Metro

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 Philadelphia 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).

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SOURCE Hotpads, Inc.