Manhattan rents tumble by the most in nearly 7 years even after landlords offer a ton of freebies

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• Manhattan rents fell year-over-year by the most in nearly seven years in March, according to a report from Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
• This happened even though landlords continue to offer several concessions to get new leases.

Manhattan landlords seem to be running out of tricks.

They're aggressively offering a month of free rent and other concessions to get new tenants. And yet, in March, Manhattan's median rent including such discounts fell year-on-year by the most in six and a half years, according to a monthly report released Thursday by Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

Armed with more choices, apartment seekers are pushing back on rental prices in New York City's largest borough, according to Hal Gavzie, the executive manager of leasing at Douglas Elliman Real Estate.

They're also concession-hopping for which landlord is offering the most incentives like gift cards. Landlords offered concessions on nearly 42% of all apartments, the third highest in nearly eight years of data collection, and up from a 28% share a year ago.

"It's a great renter's market if you're looking for an apartment," Gavzie told Business Insider. "It's a fantastic time to be looking because you do have so many choices and there are still quite a bit of concessions available."

The decline in rents also shows that the market is adjusting to all the inventory that's been built.

The oversupply also hit the rental market at its luxury end, where overbuilding has been an issue and sellers are cutting prices to woo potential buyers. Up there, the median rent costs $8,437, but fell by more than 6% from last year, the most among all price tiers.

A separate report released by Douglas Elliman earlier this month showed that Manhattan condo and co-op sales slowed in the first quarter to an almost nine-year low.