Surveyed preleasing settled at 94.5% in September, according to the latest Yardi Matrix national student housing market report.
Report highlights
- Preleasing for the Fall 2024 leasing season hit 94.5% in September, marking a 10-basis-point decrease year-over-year
- The average advertised rent per bed reached $896 that same month, while rent growth fell to 4.2%
- Yardi Matrix predicts that a total of 41,432 beds will come online at Yardi 200 schools in 2024
- Year-to-date through September, roughly 39,000 beds changed hands, down 10% since September 2023
More than half of schools hit the 95% preleased mark
Occupancy for the 2024-2025 season across student housing properties settled 94.5% in September, only 10 basis points lower than at the same point last year. Preliminary data for the new leasing season points toward a good head start, averaging 10.2% preleased and four schools already hitting 25 percent occupancy in September.
A total of 50 schools reached at least 99% occupancy by September, the largest markets being Illinois State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, James Madison, Purdue and Virginia Tech, among others.
At the other end of the spectrum, 21 schools achieved less than 85% occupancy, including East Carolina (85%), UC-Berkeley (84.9%), Temple (84.8%), Washington State (81.3%), Drexel/Penn (77.8%) and Cincinnati (72.5%).
Yardi Matrix’s supply forecast predicts that in 2024 a total of 41,432 will be delivered at Yardi 200 schools, which would mark a 5% decrease compared to last year.
Year-to-date through September, about 39,000 beds changed hands at Yardi 200 schools. The sales volume is still 10% behind the one registered in the same timeframe in 2023 and 8% behind the average for 2017-2019.
Rent growth decreases to 4.2%
During the last months of the 2024-2025 leasing season the average advertised rent per bed fell from a maximum of $901 in May, to $896 in September. That month, the year-over-year rent growth also continued its downward trend and reached 4.1%, while averaging 5.8% for the entire leasing season.
Many markets which registered the biggest rent growths in September have also showed strong enrollment increases in the past few years, coupled with fast-paced lease-up in 2023-2024.
A total of 32 schools hit a minimum of 10% rent growth for the Fall 2024 season, including Tennessee (21.2% trailing 12-month average rent growth), Clemson (14.5%), Ohio State (14.1%), Purdue (13.5%) and Kentucky (13%). Nevertheless, 22 markets had negative annual rent changes, notably Washington (-1.5%) and Minnesota (-1.8%).
Read the full Yardi Matrix National Student Housing Market Report: October 2024.
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