How will caronavirus impact student housing

Question

The caronavirus has turned the world upside down, what is the BPs community opinion on student housing?  Could this pandemic change the way colleges and universities conduct higher education?  With this possibility it would seem that student housing might not be a good investment, thoughts?

Tim S. · Answer

I do own some student housing, I'm concerned about the short term.  Fall semester is likely to be impacted with most classes being on-line.  Longer term students will still want to be on campus, it's a far better and richer experience, I don't see that going away.

As far as demand goes, it's important to pick the right schools.  Many schools have far more applicants than they accept.  Elite schools reject over 90% of candidates.  Less competitive schools reject over 50% of applicants.  So even if demand goes down significantly, many schools will still be full.  Some will certainly see a lower enrollment.  As always location matters, and markets are local, impacts will vary, one answer doesn't apply everywhere.

Taylor L. · Answer

In my opinion student housing was drastically overpriced in most markets. I saw interesting data some time ago that it had begun to falter in most markets. Students do pay quite a premium for housing, but the secret's out. Prices for investors are correspondingly higher. I prefer to stick with multifamily and self storage moving forward.

Peter Nikic · Answer

With sports, it doesn't seem possible that things will change too much. Too many colleges, businesses etc will not allow the change. I don't own any student housing, so I'm not impacted either way.

John Lenhart · Answer

Not a fan of student housing right now and it has nothing to do with Covid 19. We are going to be seeing a generational change in the next few years and the number of college aged students is going to drop significantly. There is going to be a 20% drop in enrollment for a lot of colleges just with that alone.  The millennial generation is the largest generation to go to college. Gen Z will be the significantly smaller.

Roni E. · Answer

I think we have to wait and see. It seems next semester will be online. So does that student will move in with their parents to save money and then Student Housing owners will have to the student and parents or what? Next, will students even want to move in back home with their parents.

Erik Hatch · Answer

I think your sentiment is correct, for some. I myself do not think it’s a good investment. I’d look at Multifamily before student housing. Just my opinion of course.

How will caronavirus impact student housing

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