CHICAGO—All across the nation, college students are returning to school and filling up campus apartments, making this the perfect time for landlords to put such properties up for sale. And Ryan Tobias, a founding partner at Chicago-based Triad Real Estate Partners, tells GlobeSt.com that this fall he is seeing more properties hit the market than ever before. His company, for example, has just brought more than 4,500 beds of student housing properties, located throughout the Midwest, with an aggregate value of over $200M to the market for sale.

“It's indicative of the strength of the student housing market right now,” he says. And September is the best time of the year to look over these properties. “It's the most active time of the year. The kids are moving in, your rent rolls are set and potential buyers know what you've got in place.”

The properties that Triad is currently marketing include:
• Advantage Portfolio – 457 Beds – University of Illinois
• The Villas at Happy Valley – 435 Beds – Penn State University
• Campus Point – 352 Beds – Illinois State University
• Marquette Development Site – Up to 400 Beds – University of Illinois
• Village Promenade – 522 Beds – Ball State University
• Star Portfolio – 2,337 Beds – Northern, Western & Southern Illinois Universities

“The Midwest assets continue to attract buyers from both the East and West Coasts as well as internationally,” Tobias adds. “With the majority of the universities continuing to see increases in enrollment, the student housing sector remains one of the best categories for yield buyers who are looking for consistently strong returns.”

In fact, “it's looking like 2015 is going to be the biggest year ever for student housing. Anecdotally, we're seeing more activity on the market than ever before.” This has helped the niche market offer very low cap rates coupled with some of the highest prices seen. Therefore, this season, Tobias' message for student housing owners is that they “can secure premium prices for your asset.”

 

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