College Towns: Are we approaching a buying opportunity

[Gregory Schwartz]

For those of you that buy and hold in college towns do you see this fall as...

A. The same old housing market, all the students will be back. Sunshine and rainbows for everyone

B. Buying opportunity. This is the Thursday before Black Friday. Everything is about to be on sale!!

C. College's are never going to bounce back, online education is the way of the future. Sell now and run!

This applies to towns like; College Station, Clemson, Boulder, Anne Arbor, Madison, Chapel Hill, State College, Gainesville, Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Tallahasse, Morgantown, Athens, Tuscaloosa, and the many other towns dominated by student population. 

[Cole Oraham]

I'm in the Clemson market. It was rough trying to get leases from March-Mid May. A lot of large communities were in panic mode and offering huge concessions because leasing came to a screeching stop. Students were hesitant to sign leases due to the uncertainty of on campus classes in the fall. Activity has picked back up, and most places are nearing their normal pre-leased occupancy levels. Depending on the type of property, I think that demand is still present. I know Clemson has notified faculty that they need to be prepared to pivot to online/hybrid classes at any point during the semester. I think if that happens then we might see an uptick in delinquency and THAT could be the thing that tips the scale in favor of buyers.