National Student Housing Market Report – October 2023

Read the latest Yardi Matrix Student Housing Market Report.

Report highlights

• The sector closed the fall 2023 leasing season with a 95.1% preleasing rate, falling behind last year’s figure
• Rent growth slowed in the months following March, when it peaked at 7%
• The average September rent was near its all-time high at $846 per bedroom

Following an exceptionally strong start of the fall 2023 leasing season, preleasing slowed in the last months before the start of the new academic year. In September, 95.1% of beds were preleased at Yardi 200, 1.1% behind last year’s figure at that point. New deliveries had an average preleasing rate of only 84.4%, which contributed to the general slowdown.

Yardi Matrix gathered enrollment data from 77 universities. Based on these findings, enrollment for the fall 2023 school year was up 0.6% since September 2022. At the same universities, there was an average of 1.2% decline in enrollment on a year-over-year basis last year.

In September, a total of 31 universities were 100 % preleased for the new academic year, while 25 markets hit the 99% preleased mark. The list includes large institutions such as Purdue, the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the University of Central Florida. On the other side of the spectrum, 17 Yardi 200 universities were less than 85% preleased, averaging a 74.7% rate in September.

Eight universities registered at least a 10% jump in preleasing, but were 79.9% preleased for the fall 2023 season, compared to a 94.3% preleasing rate at the same point last year. A total of fifteen markets were at least 10% short of last year’s lease-up pace, having an average preleasing rate of 76.4% in September.

Student housing rents were still high in September

Rent growth remains one of the sector’s strongest fundamentals, still hovering close to record highs in September at 6.3%. Renth growth increased through the fall 2023 season until March, when it peaked at 7%. Year-over-year rent growth averaged at 6.3% throughout the leasing season.

A total of 33 universities at Yardi 200 recorded double-digit rent growth in September—with an average preleasing rate of 97.2%. On the other end of the spectrum, 34 schools registered declines in rents—19 of these were behind last year on preleasing. Among the universities that struggled to raise their rents were urban campuses with significant amount of new supply.

Read the full Matrix Student Housing Report-October 2023.