Investors Cool On Student Housing After Pandemic

Investor appetite for student housing assets appears to have waned during the COVID-19 pandemic, as investment volume in the asset class remains 12% below pre-crisis levels. 

While deal flow slumped considerably during the height of the pandemic, “the year 2020 eventually ended on a high,” Real Capital Analytics’ Haley Crimmins writes in a recent analysis of the sector. Of note: QuadReal Property’s acquisition of a 50% stake in CA Student Living’s portfolio. (Also of note: the $3 billion in portfolio deal volume achieved in the fourth quarter of last year, which constituted the strongest level in any given quarter for deals of that structure.)