Yardi Matrix reports on U.S. student housing market issues

Preleasing levels recorded at the Yardi 200 schools in March 2025 signify that last year’s preleasing pace has slowed down, according to a new national student housing report from Matrix.

Written by Joel Nelson

05 / 20 / 25

2 min read

In common with other U.S. housing markets, the student housing market faces challenges as providers wait to see how demographic and political factors play out.

The 67.1% preleasing level recorded at the Yardi 200 schools in March 2025 trailed the number reported in April 2024, signifying “an overall slowdown in preleasing pace compared to last year,” according to a new national student housing report from Matrix.

The growth in the average advertised rent has also dropped, with the 2.5% figure in March representing a decline from 3.4% recorded in February and 4.6% at the beginning of the leasing season. “This marks the lowest month for rent growth since July 2021,” the report says, contrasting this leasing season’s 3.9% rent growth with the 5.8% and 7% seen in 2023-24 and 2022-23, respectively.

The best performing large student housing markets in March were Virginia Tech (93% preleased), the University of Alabama (92.8%), the University of Kentucky (91.3%), the University of Wisconsin (90.3%) and James Madison University (89.5%).

While enrollment accelerated at 183 of the Yardi 200 schools in fall 2024, the prospect of continued growth “is threatened by political factors likely to cause declines in foreign student enrollment and graduate enrollment during the current presidential term.”

Meanwhile, new student housing market supply has been dropping, with 35,703 off-campus, dedicated student housing beds completed in 2024 versus 44,746 in 2023. Yardi Matrix projects that the supply of new beds will total 32,100 in 2025 and 33,995 in 2026.

Read the complete Yardi Matrix national student housing market report for April 2025.

AUTHOR

Joel Nelson, senior marketing writer, joined Yardi in 2007. His byline has appeared in New York Real Estate Journal, Canadian Property Management and Los Angeles Lawyer, among others. He has won multiple awards from major professional organizations including the International Association of Business Communicators and Public Communicators of Los Angeles. Joel earned a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College.

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