Rent concessions prevalent at 'luxury' apartments

From the DJC:

As the economy continues to slump, owners of high-end apartments are offering sweetheart deals – including free rent – to prospective tenants in order to stay competitive.
There’s concern, however, that months of that practice will have far-reaching consequences for building owners.
Gary Winkler, a senior broker for multifamily investments for Colliers International, said concessions are purely a short-term fix. If unemployment continues to stay high, he said, property owners may start cutting their rental rates, and do away with concessions entirely.

Agent503 has a rundown of who is offering big concessions. The average is two months free rent (16% reduction in effective rental rate).

Remember when Realtors said rents would skyrocket because everyone would be renting rather than buying?