Real Estate Data to Investment Decisions: US Student Housing

The purpose-built Student Housing sector in the US is a relatively new sector, no more than about 25 years old. It is commonly described and understood to be Off-Campus (but in close proximity to it) and purposely designed for university undergraduates, although the product can also accommodate graduate students. The dynamics of the product itself, its location, the cycle of pre-leasing into the academic year, and selection of campuses to serve, are all subjects quite unique to success in the niche. Many feared COVID 19 would disrupt the “counter-cyclical” performance that made Student Housing so attractive after the Great Financial Crisis; this has proven not to be the case.