Student Housing Unlocked: Where the Sector Still Outperforms

Student housing has been one of the most resilient real estate sectors coming out of the pandemic, but the way it operates has changed significantly. Competition is only becoming higher in the sector and some markets have been outshining others in terms of performance.In this special episode of our podcast series, Senior Associate Editor Olivia Bunescu talked with Tyson Huebner, director of institutional research at Yardi Matrix, about the key fundamentals shaping the market today. He broke down how preleasing has accelerated and why beds are filled earlier than ever. Huebner also pointed out how new supply and evolving demand patterns are reshaping competition in key university markets.From understanding university growth plans to tracking development activity, supply volatility and construction costs, Huebner outlined the data points that really matter when evaluating markets and underwriting new deals. Coming from the same standpoint, he offered a grounded outlook on what’s coming next for the sector and why, despite the broader economic headwinds, student housing is still positioned to outperform conventional multifamily.Here’s what we discussed about:Post-2020 shifts and faster pre-leasing (00:53)Why student housing outperforms multifamily (03:11)Occupancy expectations and near-term outlook (04:18)Shrinking pipeline and development barriers (05:14)Insights on research intensity, enrollment data and supply (06:40)Inside the Yardi 200 benchmark (09:12)Emerging markets and primary state schools (10:32)Why international enrollment, tuition and school closures matter (11:43)On-campus housing, P3s and competition (13:23)How will student housing perform further? (15:01)