The student rental market continues to be very soft. Historically, many of these rentals are pre-leased in the Spring. This season, many students elected to wait until late summer and fall before even beginning their searches. This meant the rents were down significantly from last year in many rentals. In a renter's market this works to the student's advantage. If the market returns to normal (next year?) this strategy will backfire on the students as vacancy rates will be down, rents will be back up and the only available properties will those less than desirable. How soon will we see the turn around? It is anybody's guess at this point. Last spring rents were up and demand was high for a short time.
