Fall 2026 Pre-Leasing Reaches Nearly 70%

Seven months into the Fall 2026 pre-lease season, the U.S. student housing market is almost 70% full.

A total of 68.2% of student housing beds were pre-leased for the Fall 2026 school year as of April, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. That was above the market’s decade average (66.6%) by the most notable degree the market has seen this season.

(The core 175 universities tracked and forecasted by RealPage saw even more progress, with 69.2% pre-leased as of April.)

From March to April, leasing increased by 990 basis points (bps) in U.S. student housing. While that gain trailed the solid increase seen in April 2025, it still came in well ahead of the decade average for April activity in the Student Housing sector.

Though progress has been notable, Fall 2026’s April pre-lease rate was a bit shy of the market’s April position from the past few years. Fall 2025’s April reading was a bit higher at 69.3%, while readings were above 70% in the Fall 2023 and Fall 2024 pre-leasing seasons.

Apartments located closest to campus saw the tightest pre-lease rates in April. Communities within a half mile of campus were 68.7% pre-leased, after climbing 1,000 bps for the month. Properties located more than a mile from campus were 67.8% leased in April while those between a half mile and one mile of campus were 66.9% leased.

For more information on the state of the student housing industry, read previous posts on Student Housing.