National Student Housing Report – September 2023

With the end of the season approaching, Yardi 200 schools had an average occupancy of 94 percent in August.  Image by urbazon/istockphoto.com

One month prior to reaching final occupancy, September preleasing at Yardi 200 universities reached the 94 percent mark, according to the latest Yardi Matrix national student housing report. The sector was just 0.2 percent behind last year’s figure at this point, also marking a 3.3 percent increase since July.

Rents remained virtually unchanged month-over-month, stagnating at $845 per bed, while rents grew by 6.9 percent since August 2022 and were well above the historic average for the sector.

Deal volume continued to fall well behind last year’s amount at this point in time, marking a 72.6 percent decrease on a year-over-year basis. Development was still strong, as roughly 40,000 beds are expected to deliver this fall. By comparison, in the same period last year, 27,000 beds came online.

With preleasing at 94.0 percent as of August, well above the average rate between 2019 and 2021 of 89.2 percent, the sector’s strong performance continued into the end of the preleasing period. A total of 40 universities at Yardi 200 were fully preleased for the 2023-2024 school year. Among these, 18 reached their full occupancy in August.

While 13 schools were more than 10 percent above last year’s preleasing rate, 10 universities were at least 10 percent behind their 2022 rates at this point. In terms of highest year-over-year growth in percentage preleased, University of Southern Mississippi (22.7 percent), Ohio University-Main Campus (18.7 percent) and University of Mississippi (14.4 percent) led the list across Yardi 200 schools.

Student housing rents continue to climb

Annual rent growth reached 6.9 percent in August. click to enlarge.

As of August, average rent growth at Yardi 200 universities reached 6.9 percent, down 0.4 percent since the previous month and marking a 2.4 percent increase year-over-year. Rent growth averaged at 6.8 percent throughout the leasing season.

Arizona State University–Tempe, The University of Arkansas and University of Tennessee recorded rent growth of more than 19 percent in August, fueled by strong enrollment rates that averaged at 6 percent in 2022. The trio was also fully preleased for the upcoming schools year. On the other end of the spectrum, the 10 markets with the lowest rent growth had an average enrollment decline of -1.8 percent in 2022.

Read the full Yardi Matrix report.