AUSTIN, TEXAS —Experts in the student housing industry are bullish on the outlook for the upcoming academic year, citing the strong performance and outstanding fundamentals of the sector.
At the recent 15th annual InterFace Student Housing conference in Austin, industry professionals from around the country convened at the JW Marriott downtown to share insights and discuss industry trends. The first full day of the conference kicked off with the ‘Power Panel’ session, where a consortium of high-level executives provided their outlook for the year ahead.
“It has been a great couple of years to be in student housing,” said Tim Bradley, founder of TSB Capital Advisors and a principal at TSB Realty. “We’ve continued to outperform other sectors, and one of the things we pride ourselves on at my company is going out at trying to educate new LPs. The ACC transaction cemented institutional capital in the space. I think it will be good for all of us.”
“With regard to the sector, rent growth is only part of the story,” continued Bradley. “When we’re out consulting with new institutions, replacement costs have not gone down, development is going down, capital markets are hard and enrollments are up, which leads to outsized rent growth. It’s important to get groups to understand and be more aggressive on what they can underwrite for 24-25, and the velocity of rent growth has never been stronger. All signs point to more institutions entering the space.”
In addition to Bradley, the panel featured Rob Bronstein, president of The Scion Group; Wes Rogers, president and CEO of Landmark Properties; Marc Lifshin, founder and CEO of Core Spaces; American Campus Communities Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer William Talbot; Barrett Lowell, director with Harrison Street; and moderator Peter Katz, executive director with Institutional Property Advisors.
Real Estate Business Online and Student Housing Business reported on the panel, highlighting the industry’s overall positive outlook.
“Evidenced once again by a packed house in this room, the sector is popping,” said Katz. “As we continued to experience unprecedented, off-the-charts asset operations in 2022 and through the first quarter of this year, while simultaneously seeing the most mercurial capital markets we’ve seen in years, we have now statistically proven that the industry is not only recession resilient but pandemic resilient.”
