National Student Housing Report – May 2025
Student housing rent growth slowed to its lowest level in recent years, according to Yardi Matrix’s latest data.
Estimated student housing preleasing for the upcoming 2025–2026 school year reached 73.2 percent in April—140 basis points higher than the 71.8 percent rate recorded in April 2024 and equal to the rate in April 2023, according to the latest student housing report from Yardi Matrix. Despite the solid pace, operators reported increasing challenges this leasing season, including downward pressure on rental rates.
Advertised rent per bed at Yardi 200 properties averaged $917 in April. Rent growth fell to 2 percent year-over-year, down from 2.6 percent in March and well below the 6.4 percent average recorded during the previous two leasing cycles.
As of April, 21 universities were more than 90 percent preleased. Top performers included Alabama (95.1 percent preleased), Missouri (94.7 percent), Virginia Tech (94.0 percent), James Madison (92.8 percent), Wisconsin–Madison (90.4 percent), and Kentucky (90.0 percent).
At the opposite end, 21 schools remained below 50 percent preleased in April, largely consisting of smaller, secondary, or private institutions. Markets lagging in preleasing included Houston (39.2 percent), UT–Arlington (39.4 percent), Temple (51.3 percent), Sam Houston (51.5 percent), and San Diego State (52.3 percent).
Preleasing continues to decelerate
has been most noticeable at some of the best-performing
markets in recent years. Image courtesy of Yardi Matrix
The student housing report shows that UC Berkeley led in year-over-year preleasing growth in April, up 35.1 percent. Other top performers included SUNY Albany (22.9 percent), University of Pennsylvania (22.8 percent), Colorado (19.2 percent), Louisville (18.4 percent) and Cincinnati (18.1 percent).
Yardi Matrix revised its student housing supply forecast downward in the first quarter of 2025, projecting 28,454 beds to be delivered for the fall 2025 season. This is down from 36,306 beds delivered in 2024 and 44,746 beds in fall 2023, reflecting tightening financial conditions and rising construction costs.
The student housing investment market remained active with 27 properties trading through April, a figure in line with year-to-date totals from 2023 and 2024. While prices surged in 2024 due to large portfolio deals, the average price per bed has declined to $74,207 so far in 2025.
