By Katie Sloan AUSTIN, TEXAS — The ‘State of the Industry’ panel at the 17th annual InterFace Student Housing conference held more of a trepidatious tone than heard in recent years. While pre-leasing levels and rental rates are still above historical norms, the industry is seeing a slight deceleration in pre-leasing speed and rate growth, leading some to question what the industry has in store for the year ahead. The discussion — held on April 10 in Austin, Texas — was moderated by Alex O’Brien, CEO with Cardinal Group. The best way to characterize the industry this year is hesitant according to Ryan Lang, executive vice chairman with Newmark, who believes investor reluctance is largely due to pre-leasing numbers falling a couple of points behind levels seen at this time last year. Still, levels are trending far ahead of pre-leasing levels seen in 2019, lending to confidence overall in the sector. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. “The past two years were unprecedented from a leasing perspective with properties leasing up the fastest and with the highest rents growths …
