Student housing picks up steam amid market volatility

Despite deceleration in fundamentals performance among a variety of commercial real estate property types, student housing is gaining momentum, according to a recent report from Yardi Matrix.

Student housing continues to achieve record-breaking rent and pre-leasing levels, driven largely by robust demand in larger, more competitive universities. Demand for both on- and off-campus housing is particularly acute in university markets located in downtowns with prevalent conventional multifamily markets.

Although higher interest rates, reduced debt-market liquidity and weakening investor sentiment are putting a damper on development and sales activity, student housing is a sector that performs well during times of economic volatility.

At the beginning of the second quarter, there were roughly 70,000 bedrooms under construction, an increase of 20,000 beds from the previous quarter. In March, pre-leasing rates also hit an all-time high. During the month, 69.7 percent o