Enrollment Woes + Development Slows

THE SLIGHT DECREASE IN ENROLLMENT AND ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY POSE ISSUES FOR OWNERS AND DEVELOPERS:

“As pandemic-related restrictions eased and life seemed to settle more into normalcy, higher ed leaders held out hope a COVID19-era enrollment decline would rebound. That doesn’t appear to be the case. Enrollment fell by 1.1% in fall 2022 from the prior year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Institutions suffered across the board — community colleges, four-year public colleges and for-profits. Less-selective colleges and two-year institutions bore the brunt of these declines. … Skepticism of colleges’ value could continue to push down student counts. And the so-called birth dearth during the Great Recession is arriving for higher education, shrinking the contingent of high school graduates available to enroll in college — and meaning enrollment will likely continue to wane.”

7 Higher Education Trends to Watch in 2023 — Higher Ed Drive

“Economic uncertainty is also causing difficulties for developers. Financing will continue to prove difficult for 2024, 2025 and perhaps even 2026 deliveries,” said Timothy Bradley, principal of TSB Realty. He also stated: “Overall new purpose-built student housing supply levels will settle in the 25,000 beds over the next few years, or about 60 percent of the typical annual volume. This level of supply cannot keep up with demand due to enrollment growth, shifting consumer demands and aging existing inventory, which is a positive indicator for continued outperformance in top-tier markets as well as future cap rate stability, if not compression.”

What Experts Expect for Student Housing in 2023 — MultiHousing News