Oh they definitely are - just not on the listed prices. What you're describing is also only true of new luxury towers that don't want to lock in a low price, which is the minority of housing in the Bay.

I found it easy to get the landlords to drop the price $200. The few landlords who refused to play ball were messaging me a month later with discounts begging me to take the place.

Plenty of people I know negotiated 10% decrease of their rent. And that was a few months back.

Which is the exact same thing as reducing rent by 1/12th or 1/6th. Most near luxury complexes do this to maintain the “luxury” price but have the price actually be lower.

With the exception that if you break the lease, you now owe those "free" months back.