The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that about 20.4 million students attended American colleges and universities in 2017. That figure represents an increase of 5.1 million students from 2000 and is expected to exceed 22 million by 2023. As this enrollment growth carries forward, developers of student housing properties have been holding steady volumes of new product on their books. According to CoStar Group, developers have added about 22,000 new units each year since 2010. During that stretch, vacancy for all unit types has not risen above 10 percent and rents have maintained positive growth rates, save for the 12-month period from mid-2013 to mid-2014. Asking rents for studio and one-bedroom units have appreciated the most during this cycle. This suggests that more graduate students, who are more likely to live alone, are clamoring for student housing residences. Larger schools often have limited enrollment, forcing graduate students to consider smaller institutions. As such, secondary markets are gradually beginning to see heavier waves of student housing development. In Texas, this trend appears to still be in its infancy. As for the state’s biggest markets, the University of Texas at Austin is located within a very tight development grid. Lubbock …
