Student Housing’s Next Test Is Execution
Student housing still looks like one of the steadiest corners of commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix reports that preleasing for the 2026-2027 academic year reached 52.3% in January, ahead of an estimated 45.6% a year earlier. Across 184 universities, total fall 2025 enrollment reached 4.9 million students, up 1.8% year over year. For investors looking for durable demand, those are the kind of numbers that keep the sector near the top of the watch list.