Despite a last-minute push in August, student housing pre-leasing has fallen behind levels in the past two years, although they continue to exceed pre-COVID norms. August marks the final month of pre-lease season in the student housing market.
Roughly 92.8% of beds at the core 175 universities tracked by RealPage were leased for the Fall 2024 semester, compared with 94.4% last year and 95.6% in 2022. The August showing was a significant improvement over July's pace, according to RealPage's most recent student housing update. This is notable as momentum typically slows in August as the leasing season wraps up. About 4.4% of student housing beds were leased between July and August for the Fall 2024 leasing season, a period where leasing typically falls below 4% as fewer beds are available to lease.
Properties within half a mile to one mile of campus had the tightest pre-lease occupancy of 92.9% as of August, while properties further from the grounds were 92.8% occupied. Properties within half a mile of campus had the lowest pre-lease occupancy of 92.7%, as of August, which is still historically strong, said RealPage.
Annual effective rent growth softened across the board to 3.6% in August, the lowest growth rate reported for this year's pre-lease season, the report found. Meanwhile, Properties furthest from campus had the strongest rent growth of 5.6% as of August.
The University of Mississippi and the University of Tennessee logged the nation's strongest annual student housing rent growth performances above 20%. Strong rates above 12% were also seen at the University of Kentucky, Purdue University, College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina University.
Of the schools, 22 reported essentially full occupancy with rates of 98% or more, including the University of Kansas, the University of Mississippi, Oklahoma State University and James Madison University. In particular, the Carolinas were home to several tight occupancy schools, such as Appalachian State University, Coastal Carolina University and Western Carolina University, said RealPage.