National Student Housing Report – June 2025
Annual rent growth in May fell to 2.1 percent, its smallest increase in four years, Yardi Matrix data shows.
Preleasing at Yardi 200 universities for the upcoming 2025-2026 academic year remained above last year’s figure, reaching 79.9 percent as of May—150 basis points higher than a year ago, according to the latest Yardi Matrix student housing report. However, the sector might have to face a few headwinds.
Last fall, Yardi 200 institutions saw the average enrollment growth climb to 1.8 percent. However, that momentum may not hold, as the number of high school graduates is expected to have peaked this year and will gradually decline. Additionally, shifting policies around higher-education funding and international student admissions could take a toll on the market as well.
The advertised rent per bed at Yardi 200 properties averaged $917 in May, unchanged from last month and just below the $919 record high registered in March this year. However, annual rent growth has been slowing in recent months, with May’s 2.1 percent increase marking the lowest level since July 2021.
Student housing preleasing remains on pace
As of May, 30 universities were more than 90 percent preleased, up from only 21 last month. A total of 17 were 95 percent or more preleased, including James Madison (95.7 percent), Illinois State University (98.3 percent) and University of Missouri (98.6 percent).
Additionally, 40 Yardi 200 schools were at least 10 percent ahead of last year’s preleasing pace, such as UC Berkeley (19.8 percent ahead) and Nevada-Reno (14.6 percent ahead). At the opposite pole, 24 markets are more than 10 percent behind May 2024’s figures, some of them due to new supply coming online.
University of Cincinnati registered the highest year-over-year preleasing growth in May, reaching 22.5 percent, the student housing report shows. The school was closely followed by SUNY Albany (22.1 percent) and University of Pennsylvania (19.8 percent).
Since April, nine student housing assets traded leading to a total of 36 properties sold year-to-date as of May, on par with last year. However, the average price per bed dropped year-over-year, from $105,252 to $88,467.
