Average advertised rent growth at U.S. student housing properties grew just 2.5% in March, representing a 0.9% decline from February’s growth rate. That is the largest month-over-month decline in six years, according to a report released Tuesday by Yardi Matrix.

“The deceleration in growth was notable,” the Yardi report stated, as the average rent per bed rose just $1 in March to $918.

The company noted that preliminary March data revealed that “preleasing at the Yardi 200 schools in March lagged the level recorded in March 2024, signifying an overall slowdown in the preleasing pace from last year.” The Yardi 200 is the company’s top 200 investment-grade universities across all major collegiate conferences.

While fall 2024 enrollment data showed accelerating growth at 183 of the Yardi 200 schools, the report also noted that college enrollments are “threatened by political factors likely to cause declines in foreign student enrollment and graduate enrollment during the current presidential term.”

On the supply side, dedicated student housing properties added a total of 35,703 off-campus beds in 2024, down from 44,746 beds in 2023. Yardi projects that those numbers will continue to decline to 32,100 beds in 2025, before rising slightly to 33,995 beds in 2026.