Harrison Street Says Student Housing Fundamentals Vary Widely Across University Markets

According to CNBC, Harrison Street Asset Management said student housing demand remains strong overall, but market fundamentals are diverging across universities and regional markets as students return to campus. National pre-leasing across the Yardi 200 reached 89.1% in July ahead of fall move-ins, up from 88.1% in July 2025 but below August 2025 levels of 89.9%. Yardi said 117 of the 200 markets surveyed in July were at or above their year-earlier pre-leasing levels, though new supply is increasingly concentrated in large markets. Mike Gordon, Harrison Street's global chief investment officer for real estate, said the firm is highly constructive on student housing overall but not on every market. He said specialization has become more important as differences between university markets have widened because of funding cuts, enrollment trends and student demand. Gordon cited Michigan, UVA, UNC and other large public Power Four universities, and said many of the markets Harrison Street focuses on are operating at or above 95% occupancy. He also said housing supply has lagged enrollment growth at Virginia Tech, Auburn University and Penn State. Harrison Street said it has more than $24 billion allocated across 432 student housing properties since its launch in 2005, representing more than 238,000 beds across 200 university markets in North America and Europe. Earlier this year, the firm sold a 12-property student housing portfolio for $910 million.