One thing is clear, pandemic or not, students want to be amongst and live with their classmates making student housing more important than ever.
As we continue to recover from the effects of Covid-19 and more people get vaccinated, transaction volume is expected to experience an uptick.
Both Fitts and Lang are optimistic about the next six months in the sector, both from demand and investor standpoints. “Spring semester could be interesting as we get further along,” says Lang. “For students who took a wait-and-see approach to going back, we think there will be a substantial number who will jump back in and go to school or at least go back to the college town. We're expecting there will be an uptick across the country in the spring semester and into the summer. If occupancies and collections continue to remain at elevated levels, that certainly will help the investment community in general.” We believe that demand will trend [toward] modern off-campus student housing configurations [such as a] full apartment with a kitchen and living room, private bedroom, and near 1:1 bathroom ratios. —Jay Pearlman, Scion Group
