Rent discounts are surging across Sunbelt cities in the U.S. as a wave of new apartments meets cooling demand, forcing landlords to offer months of free rent and other perks to fill buildings. 

A construction boom that began during the pandemic is now affecting the rental market in cities like Phoenix, Austin, Dallas and parts of Florida, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week. Developers raced to build new units to cater to those moving from pricier coastal metropolitan areas, but many of those new buildings are being completed just as demand has waned. 

October data from listings platform Apartment List shows that in Phoenix, roughly 54% of rentals are offering at least one month of free rent, the highest share in the country and a powerful indicator of how far the market has swung in favor of tenants. In other Sunbelt and Mountain West metros, including San Antonio, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City, more than 40% of properties are offering some kind of discount for new tenants.

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The most common perk is free rent. New tenants can often get from one month to three months waived on a yearlong lease, per the WSJ. The discounts are more pronounced in high-end buildings competing for a limited pool of qualified tenants. 

On top of that, landlords are adding incentives such as gift cards, discounted sports tickets and free moving services to sweeten the deal without permanently cutting base rents. 

Across the country, the average value of lease concessions has climbed to roughly the equivalent of one month’s rent. It’s the highest for this time of year in more than a decade, according to research firm ALN Apartment Data. An October report from Zillow shows that around 37% of active listings now offer some form of incentive, a record level that highlights how widespread the practice has become.

However, many of these deals are introductory and could expire when it comes time to renew the lease. Furthermore, industry analysts tell the WSJ that 2025 was a transitional year. They expect pricing power to shift to favor landlords within the next year or 18 months. 

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For now, landlords are putting occupancy first over rent growth as they face competition from nearby new buildings. Cutting rents outright can reset expectations for future renewals, so many owners prefer temporary incentives that keep rents higher on paper while still attracting tenants. 

Despite those efforts, rents have declined. Phoenix rents fell 4% by the end of 2025 to a median of $1,350 a month, according to Apartment List. Nationally, rent prices dropped by 1.3%. 

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