Student housing preleasing levels rising steadily, Yardi Matrix reports

Higher college enrollment spurs demand; rent growth slows as operators strive to fill beds

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 29, 2025 – U.S. student housing is off to a robust start ahead of the 2025-26 school year, with preleasing in the Yardi® 200 markets reaching 85.3% by June, according to a new national report from Yardi® Matrix.

This figure represents a 160-basis-point increase over the level recorded in June 2024. Fifty markets are already over 90% preleased, with preleasing levels at 27 of them equal to or above last year’s September occupancy. Rising college enrollment following a peak in high school graduates this year accounts for some of the brisk preleasing activity.

Average advertised rates at the Yardi 200 schools have fallen over the past three months as operators cut rates to fill remaining beds, although the $909 figure in June represents a 1.3% year-over-year increase.

Schools such as the University of Mississippi and the University of Kansas, where student enrollment has increased with little or no new supply of off-campus housing, recorded double-digit average rent increases in June. Meanwhile, markets with significant new student housing and/or competition from a weak conventional apartment sector, such as Arizona State University and the University of Tennessee, experienced rent declines.

The beds sold so far this year exceed the total sold at this point in 2024 and 2023. The average price per bed is 28% higher than the average recorded from 2020 through 2024, likely due to the 23% increase in per-bed rents since January 2020.

Challenges ahead include reduced federal funding for higher education and student loan programs along with an expected decline in international student enrollment. “These factors will impact schools differently, with private institutions and certain states likely to be more affected,” the report notes.

Read more about the latest student housing market fundamentals in the Yardi Matrix report, which is compiled from a database of more than 1 million student housing beds across 1,500 universities.

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