Preleasing trails 2024 levels while enrollment grows at most Yardi 200 schools
SANTA BARBARA, Calif., April 8, 2025 – Average advertised rent growth at U.S. student housing properties in March 2025 represented the largest national month-over-month decline in the last six years, according to a new National Student Housing Report from Yardi® Matrix.
The 2.5% growth rate trailed the 3.4% recorded in February. And although the average rent per bed reached a record high in March, “the deceleration in growth was notable, as the sector expects rate growth to come down from an average of 6% during the 2023-2024 leasing season and an average of 3.7% since January 2018,” the report says.
Preleasing at the Yardi 200 schools in March lagged the level recorded in March 2024, signifying an overall slowdown in the preleasing pace from last year. Yardi Matrix expects to revise the 67.1% March figure downward as more data becomes available over the next month.
The supply of new off-campus, dedicated student housing beds dropped 20% in 2024 from 2023 levels. Meanwhile, fall 2024 enrollment grew at 183 of the Yardi 200 schools, with most growth occurring in primary state schools. “Enrollment has been boosted by strong demographics but is threatened by political factors likely to cause declines in foreign student enrollment and graduate enrollment,” the report says.
Learn more about student housing market trends examined in the new report. Get a more detailed review of the industry from a recent webinar recording.
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