Arizona State Gives Scorching Student Housing Fall Performance

Arizona State and the Desert/Mountains region as a whole posted the top performances nationally in student housing occupancy and rent growth for the fall 2023 school year, according to a new report from RealPage Analytics.

Arizona, Utah, and even Idaho – led the country with occupancy approaching 99% while rent growth averaged nearly 13%.

Arizona State’s “incredible” season includes 24.5% rent growth and occupancy at 99.1% across its 11,100-plus existing beds.

Boise State and its base of roughly 3,300 existing off-campus beds ever so slightly trailed the national norm while the University of Nevada-Reno was the only to significantly trail the national average in the fall.

Looking nationwide, it was high population growth states and regions that out-graded the others.

“As the nation’s student housing performance remained red-hot in the fall 2023 leasing season, many schools saw performance trend well ahead of previous decade norms,” writes RealPage’s Carl Whitaker. “As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. Still, even a regional snapshot shows some support for the idea of getting investment and development dollars out in front of faster-growing parts of the country.”

The southeast region included both strong revenue growth performances(the University of Arkansas and the University of Tennessee) and underwhelming numbers from schools such as the University of West Georgia, Mississippi State University, and West Virginia University.

Nevertheless, strong demand supported regional occupancy of about 96% while rents grew by approximately 9% during the fall.

GlobeSt.com recently reported on Yardi’s metrics that showed14 universities in the Yardi 200 at over 40% preleased, compared to only two schools at this time last year. Rent growth in these markets averaged 10.8%.

The University of Tennessee, the University of Wisconsin, and Clemson are 60% to 70% preleased as “properties there are taking advantage of their fast start by pushing rates,” according to the report.

University of Texas at Austin has seen significant new development and even with strong demand, it has struggled to keep local performance in line with the national average, Whitaker said.