Student Housing in Strong Spot

The student housing sector starts the school year in a strong position, as preleasing matches last year’s solid performance and year-over-year rent growth has continually outpaced 2022’s historic growth.

Student housing is one of the few real estate sectors to be continually resilient post-pandemic, according to the latest National Student Housing Report from Yardi® Matrix, which is now available for download. You can also join the upcoming Student Housing Webinar with Matrix experts on Oct. 25 and gain more in-depth insight.

As of August 2023, 94 percent of beds at Yardi 200 universities were preleased, a 3.3 percent increase from the prior month and 0.2 percent behind August 2022. Rents remained flat in August from July at $845 per bed, but year-over-year rent growth of 6.9 percent in August was still well above the historic average for the sector.

“As we enter the 2023-2024 school year, student housing preleasing matches last year’s solid trend and year-over-year rent growth has continually outpaced last year’s historic growth, as well as other property sectors,” say Matrix analysts in the new report. “The sector is in prime position to weather a potential recession, with counter-cyclical demand patterns and solid occupancy and rent growth baked in for the 2023-2024 school year.”

Strong fundamentals continue to fuel development, and Matrix projects approximately 40,000 new beds to deliver in fall 2023 at Yardi 200 universities, compared to the 27,000 delivered in fall 2022. Solid preleasing and rent growth suggest that much of the new supply has already been absorbed.

Read more findings from the latest student housing report.

The student housing data set includes over 2,000 universities and colleges nationwide, including the top 200 investment grade universities across all major collegiate conferences. Known as the “Yardi 200,” it includes all Power 5 conferences as well as Carnegie R1 and R2 universities.

Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, vacant land, industrial, office, retail and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call 480-663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn more.

SHARE POST

Facebook LinkedIN

AUTHOR

Leah Etling is the founding editor of the Balance Sheet and a 12-year Yardi employee who also oversees press releases and social media. An award winning journalist, she holds a master's degree from UC Berkeley and is a native of Santa Barbara County, Yardi's home.

Recent articles

Rob Teel and Anant Yardi speaking at YASC, Yardi’s annual user conference for property management professionals.

Guide to YASC for PHA and Affordable Housing

Learn how our flagship event, YASC, benefits public and affordable housing professionals. See what’s new in 2026 and why YASC is worth attending.

08 / 20 / 26

Introducing WorkCafe for Buildings

Introducing WorkCafe for Buildings: The tenant experience platform that runs on your operations data

WorkCafe for Buildings is a tenant experience platform for commercial buildings built natively on Yardi Voyager to put bookings, billing and operations in one place.

Yardi Virtuoso Enterprise logo: 5 benefits of a connected maintenance system

5 benefits of a connected maintenance system

When maintenance, leasing and accounting run on one system, the handoffs disappear. Here are five ways that change your operation.

08 / 18 / 26