The 2024-2025 leasing season is starting to look more like last year, according to the latest Yardi Matrix national student housing market report.
Report highlights
- Preleasing at Yardi 200 schools reached 61.5% in February, up 450 basis points on a year-over-year basis
- The average rent per bed hit $883, marking a 5.2% jump since February 2023
- The average enrollment rate for the Fall 2023 school year was up 0.8% compared to the previous year
Student housing preleasing high, but more in line with previous year
With preleasing still at record high, the student housing market continues to perform well, as the 2024-2025 leasing season starts to look more like the previous one, according to Yardi Matrix data. As of February, preleasing at Yardi 200 schools was at 61.5%, marking a 450-basis-point jump compared to the same period last year and 10% ahead of the average between 2019 and 2022.
A total of 18 universities were already more than 80% preleased in February, including some large markets, such as Ole Miss (98.7%), Purdue (88.7%), Appalachian State (88.6%) and Tennessee–Knoxville (87.5%). Only 35 schools were less than 40% preleased, down 7% from February 2023, inclusing Utah Valley (28.8%), BYU (32%), UT–Arlington (34.7%) and UNC–Wilmington (36.6%).
Preliminary data from 168 universities shows that enrollment for the current school year has risen by 0.8% on a year-over-year basis. Yardi Matrix predicts that 46,285 new beds will deliver in 2024, a significantly higher amount than the 35,610 beds that came online in 2023, but the market seems to be ready to successfully absorb this new supply.
Highest rent growth among commercial real estate sectors
As of February, the average rent per bed hit $883—5.2% more than at this point in 2023. While rents have been consistently rising in the current leasing season, annual rent growth has slowed from the 7.3% registered in February 2023, but was still above the average of 3.5% going back to 2018. The student housing market’s rent growth was well ahead the general multifamily sector’s.
Numerous markets with double-digit rent growth were the quickest to fill their beds for the 2024-2025 school year (Tennessee–Knoxville, Ole Miss, Clemson, Purdue, Texas State). On the other side of the spectrum, markets that struggled with preleasing and enrollment rates registered rent declines. This list included USC, UC–Berkeley, Washington State, Nevada-Reno and West Georgia, which averaged a 43.3% preleasing rate in February.
Read the full Yardi Matrix National Student Housing Market Report: March 2024.
Add Comment