Increases in rents for purpose-built student accommodation is tied to broader US rental market trends, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council's (NMHC) Research Foundation.

A study by the NMHC examined the purpose-built student housing market's role in overall escalating college costs. It found that student-specific factors such as enrollment levels and tuition have little effect on student housing rent prices. Instead, the same affordability factors driving rents in the broader conventional market are driving rents in the student housing sector.

"Perceptions of rising costs are real," said Chris Bruen, NMHC's senior director of research. "But this research suggests they are caused by the same forces affecting housing costs overall: the US. has a severe housing shortage. This means students compete with other residents for a limited housing supply in markets where prices are already increasing."