Boston apartment rent concessions more prevalent, report says

The number of Boston apartment listings mentioning a concession from landlords increased 142.1 percent over the past 12 months, according to a new report from Zillow-owned real estate search site HotPads.

Still, as big as that annual bounce was, the share of Boston rental listings mentioning a concession—anything from a discount on the rent to a gift card—stood at a relatively paltry 0.5 percent.

That is likely a function of the perennial demand amid wheezing supply in the Boston market and in surrounding markets such as Cambridge and Somerville. Simply put, landlords don’t have to offer too many sweeteners to land tenants.

Meanwhile, the HotPads report also said apartment rents are rising 2.5 percent annually compared with 3.4 percent during the same time last year and that the city’s median monthly rent stood at $2,440. That would seem to gibe with other recent analyses of other listings cohorts that show a generally expensive and tight market for tenants.

Nevertheless, the HotPads report held out some hope: Boston appeared to buck a national trend in rental concessions. Nationally, the number of listings mentioning such breaks to tenants was down nearly 30 percent.

Below is a chart breaking down some of the HotPads info. What are you seeing in the Boston apartment market in terms of rental concessions?