While secondary colleges are experiencing continued challenges with enrollment and occupancies, student housing acquisitions in secondary and tertiary markets are being dominated by local and regional buyers. These investors perceive good comparative value in those locations, according to Fred Pierce, president and CEO of Pierce Education Properties.

According to College House, fall 2021 student housing occupancy was up 4.14 percent from fall 2020, registering at almost 92 percent. Pierce recently weighed in on surprises in the performance of student housing properties and whether COVID is still weighing down occupancies and rents in any measurable way.

“The super majority of our properties have occupancies ranging from 99 percent to 100 percent occupancy. The show-up rate, the percent of pre-leases that move in, for our portfolio exceeded 99.5 percent and fall collections have exceeded 99 percent,” he says. “By most all metrics, the student housing sector has been second to only Industrial in terms of performance during the pandemic.”