In this episode, Newmark Vice Chairman Ryan Lang delves into the sector’s dynamics and resilience.
The student housing market has been keeping strong fundamentals, despite the uncertainty around capital markets. Although the transaction volume is down, some experts argue that student housing is recession-proof and remains resilient amidst current challenges, anticipating an uptick in 2024. Newmark’s Vice Chairman and Head of Student Housing Ryan Lang believes that this year might even be the best one on record for the sector.
In our second episode of Student Housing Unlocked with Multi-Housing News’ Associate Editor Olivia Bunescu, Lang delves into the current trends and challenges in the sector and shares how the market is performing in terms of investment. Lang, who has 14 years of experience in the field, touches on the main factors that attract investors to these assets, from acceptance rate to the “flight to quality” movement. He also shares some insights on how to navigate the complex student housing landscape.
LISTEN TO: Student Housing Unlocked: Navigating the Industry’s Transformative Management Trends
Here are the main ideas discussed in this episode:
- Rent growth and leasing velocity as strong fundamentals in student housing (01:15)
- The current dynamics in the sector: enrollment growth and growing applications (03:30)
- Capital markets dislocation and liquidity needs challenges in student housing (05:30)
- Growing operations amidst economic uncertainty (07:23)
- Slower investment activity in 2023 with an expected uptick in 2024 (09:17)
- Enrollment growth, sports programs and acceptance rates’ impact on investment (11:42)
- Recent transactions in Newmark’s student housing portfolio (13:27)
- Flight to quality’s influence on market growth (15:00)
- Choosing the right operators as a pivotal role in successful investments (16:14)
- “2024 shaping up to be the best year on record for student housing” (18:23)
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Music credits: “Easy to find” by Corinne song via Uppbeat.com
