Student Housing Updates now Monthly

Near-Record Preleasing in July

By Leah Etling on Aug 16, 2023 in Matrix

The student housing sector continues to outperform as the Fall 2023 school year approaches, according to the August National Student Housing Report from Yardi Matrix. Reports on national student housing performance, with insight on preleasing and rental rates, are now being delivered on a monthly basis.

As of July, 90.1 percent of beds at Yardi 200 universities were preleased for the upcoming fall term, a 4.6 percent increase from the prior month and about even with last year.

Preleasing was near a record high for July, and year-over-year rent growth throughout the leasing season has been ahead of last year. The sector is equipped to handle economic challenges, with solid occupancy and rent growth for the 2023-2024 school year and counter-cyclical demand.

“Preleasing has slowed recently from rapid growth at the beginning of the leasing season. Month-over-month rent growth has also decelerated,” states the report. Despite the drop, fall occupancy is projected to match last year at around 96 percent, while rent growth remains impressive at 7.1 percent year-over-year.

Strong fundamentals continue to fuel development, and Yardi Matrix projects approximately 40,000 new beds will be delivered in Fall 2023 at Yardi 200 universities, compared to 27,000 delivered last fall. Solid preleasing and rent growth suggests that much of the supply has already been absorbed.

The student housing data set includes over 2,000 universities and colleges nationwide, including the top 200 investment grade universities across all major collegiate conferences. Known as the “Yardi 200,” it includes all Power 5 conferences as well as Carnegie R1 and R2 universities.

Gain more insight in the latest Student Housing Report. Future reports will include a rotating special topic such as enrollment trends, transaction volume or development activity.

Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, industrial, office, retail, vacant land and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call (480) 663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn more.