Real Estate Trends Student Housing Market

Student Housing Market Report – January 2025

Cover image for the January 2025 student housing market report
Image by koldo studio/iStockphoto.com

Surveyed preleasing reached 47.1% in December, according to the latest Yardi Matrix national student housing market report.

Report highlights

  • Preleasing at Yardi 200 stood at 47.1% in December, ahead of trended 39.7% in December 2023
  • Annual rent growth slowed, reaching 3.8% in December and averaging 4.3% for the season
  • The average rent per bed climbed to $909 at the end of 2024—the highest on record
  • During 2024, a total of 129 student housing properties changed hands, exceeding last year’s transaction volume

Preleasing ahead of previous years

Following the end of a stellar leasing season, preleasing for the 2025-2026 academic year is beginning on a high note. Surveyed preleasing clocked in at 47.1% in December 2024, outperforming the previous year’s 39.7% in December 2023.

The student housing preleasing pace is expected to slow as the leasing season progresses and as more data points are collected. Across Yardi 200, a group of 55 schools already achieved 50% preleased in December 2024, while 14 surpassed the 75% preleased mark.

At the other end of the spectrum, 42 universities failed to reach 25% preleased in December, with many of these were behind last year’s pace. The list included UNC-Wilmington (12.2% preleased, 9.7% behind last year), UNC-Greensboro (15.5% preleased, 11.3% behind) and UC-Davis (15.7% preleased, 3.7% behind).

Rents increase to record high

As of December 2024, the average advertised rent per bed hit $909—the highest on record, while annual rent growth reached 3.8% and averaged 4.3% since October. Moreover, in the first three months of the fall 2025 leasing year, rents inched up 1.5%, following a 4.6% growth the previous season.

Rent growth ranged from -17.7% at Cal-Berkeley, to 14.4% at Auburn, which saw a steady increase in enrollment over the past three years. Other markets with strong enrollment growth and no new supply included Ole Miss (14% rent growth), Kennesaw State (12.9%), Kansas (12.8%), Purdue (12.5%) and Oregon State (12.2%).

On a national level, early enrollment data points toward another growth year, suggesting a 2% average growth in enrollment in the Fall 2024 school year—compared to a 1.1% increase the previous year.

In 2024, 129 dedicated student housing properties changed hands, marking a 50-deal increase from 2023 and well above the pre-pandemic average. Notably, deals closed at an average of $101,000 per bedroom—on par with the previous peak in 2020.

Read the full Yardi Matrix National Student Housing Market Report: January 2025.

About the author

Beata Lorincz

With a background in architecture, Beata Lorincz has been an associate editor with Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News since 2017. Her current work centers around architecture and design, the student housing sector and data-driven updates on the office market.

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