New York City — Pre-leasing velocity and rental rate growth for the upcoming academic year in student housing are exceeding pre-pandemic levels, according to Berkadia’s latest Student Housing: Pre-leasing Report 2022.
The report, which utilizes data from universities tracked by Axiometrics, shows that student housing properties across the country are 86.3 percent leased on average ahead of the 2022-2023 academic year. This is 6.5 percentage points higher than levels seen heading into the 2019-2020 academic year. Average rent per-bed is $771, with rents in communities less than .5 miles from campus averaging $836 — a 5.7 percent and 5.5 percent year-over-year increase, respectively.
The top 10 universities with the highest enrollment levels ahead of the 2022-2023 academic year include the University of Central Florida with 72,739 students; Texas A&M University with 66,341 students; Ohio State University with 61,799 students; the University of Florida with 53,906 students; the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with 53,469 students; Arizona State University with 52,805 students; the University of Minnesota with 52,537 students; the University of Texas at Austin with 50,728 students; Michigan State University with 49,943 students; and the University of Washington with 48,534 students.
New York City-based Berkadia also predicts that the sales volume for student housing properties in 2022 will be the highest on record.
—Katie Sloan