National Student Housing Report – April 2024
Rent growth at student housing communities picked up in March, according to a report by Yardi Matrix.
Preleasing at Yardi 200 universities reached 67.7 percent in March, up 240-basis points on a year-over-year basis, according to the latest student housing report from Yardi Matrix.
The average preleasing rate was still more than 10 percent ahead of the average recorded between 2019 and 2022. As of March, the average rent per bedroom climbed to an all-time high, at $895 per bedroom, with rent growth picking up again in March.
Based on data collected from 183 schools, enrollment for the ongoing school year was up by an average of 0.7 percent year-over-year, marking a strong rebound in growth. By comparison, fall 2022 enrollment had dropped 0.5 percent from the previous year. Yardi Matrix predicts that in 2024, a total of 46,285 new beds will deliver, outpacing last year’s volume and nearing the peak years of 2013 and 2014.
First quarter student housing sales were on par with last year’s volume recorded in the same timeframe. In the first three months of 2024, a total of 12 properties changed hands—similar to the 11 communities sold in the first quarter of 2023. The transaction volume was considerably lower than during the same months in 2022, when 50 properties traded.
Student housing fundamentals outpace historical average
The current leasing year is getting more and more similar to last year’s pace, which had the quickest lease-up in recent history. Across Yardi 200 schools, 46 had preleasing over 75 percent, while eight were more than 90 percent preleased—including Ole Miss (99.4 percent), Purdue (91.7 percent), Appalachian State (91.6%) and Kentucky (90.4%).
On the other hand, 46 universities were less than 50 percent leased in March. These were more likely to be tertiary state schools and private schools which struggled with enrollment growth.
While rent growth was trending down at the beginning of the leasing season, it picked up again as students returned from spring break. Reaching $895 per bed in March 2024, rents were 6 percent higher than at the same point last year. The top 22 universities for rent growth are, on average, 74 percent preleased with enrollment growth of 2.6 percent, while the bottom 22 average a 48.8 percent preleasing rate and a -4.3 percent enrollment growth.
