HomeUnion Names the Most Expensive College Towns

Rents near UCLA exceed $4,300 a month, 80 percent above market-rate

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Aug 03, 2016, 10:08 ET

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeUnion, an online residential real estate investment management firm, has released a list of the college towns with the most expensive off-campus rents. According to new data released by HomeUnion, rents within a two-mile radius of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford University and University of Miami are the highest in the nation. To create the list, HomeUnion analyzed the median rent within a two-mile radius of a university's campus and compared it to the metro area's market-rate rent. Colleges with enrollment of 15,000 students or higher were included in the study.

"As college students return to school this month, we wanted to let them and their families know where off-campus rents would be the most expensive," explains Steve Hovland, director of research for HomeUnion. "Tuition for both public and private universities continues to increase nationwide, prompting students and their families to consider the cost of living in off-campus housing like single-family rentals (SFRs). To minimize living expenses, students can look at more distant accommodations or consider having roommates in a rental home. This study illustrates where living near campus is disproportionately more expensive than the market as a whole, and off-campus housing may eat into their college savings."

Here's a list of the college towns with the most expensive off-campus rents:

Metro Area	Location	University/College	Median Rent*	Market Rent	% Above Market	Enrollment
Los Angeles	Westwood	University of California, Los Angeles	$4,343	$2,409	80%	43,000
San Jose, CA	Palo Alto	Stanford University	$5,705	$3,499	63%	16,000
Miami	Coral Gables	University of Miami	$2,818	$1,916	44%	17,000
Boston	Cambridge	Harvard University	$3,287	$2,276	44%	21,000
Oakland, CA	Berkeley	University of California, Berkeley	$4,070	$2,822	44%	37,000
Salt Lake City	East SLC	University of Utah	$2,043	$1,443	41%	32,000
Dallas	Richardson	University of Texas, Dallas	$2,058	$1,476	39%	23,000
Seattle	University District	University of Washington	$2,786	$2,044	36%	45,000
Lansing, MI	East Lansing	Michigan State University	$1,282	$948	35%	51,000
Portland, OR	Downtown	Portland State University	$2,327	$1,724	34%	28,000
New York City	Greenwich Village	New York University	$2,881	$2,139	34%	57,000
Chapel Hill, NC	University City	University of North Carolina	$1,739	$1,329	31%	29,000
Gainesville, FL	West Hills	Santa Fe College	$1,510	$1,173	29%	17,000
Springfield, MA	Upham's Corner	University of Massachusetts	$2,013	$1,596	26%	29,000
Ithaca, NY	Forest Home	Cornell University	$2,082	$1,675	24%	22,000
Palm Beach, FL	Boca Raton	Florida Atlantic University	$2,477	$2,000	24%	30,000
Columbus, OH	University District	Ohio State University	$1,635	$1,321	24%	65,000
Austin	Central Austin	University of Texas	$2,037	$1,653	23%	51,000
Blacksburg, VA	Blacksburg	Virginia Tech	$1,462	$1,191	22%	31,000
Cleveland, OH	Downtown	Cleveland State University	$1,473	$1,235	19%	17,000
Pittsburgh, PA	Oakland/ Middle Hill	University of Pittsburgh	$1,328	$1,115	19%	35,000
Atlanta	Sweet Auburn	Georgia State University	$1,530	$1,304	17%	33,000
Boulder, CO	University Hill	University of Colorado, Boulder	$2,489	$2,122	17%	30,000
Melbourne, FL	Pinehurst Gardens	Eastern Florida State College	$1,519	$1,310	16%	18,000
Washington, DC	Georgetown	Georgetown University	$2,335	$2,033	15%	18,000
State College, PA	University Park	Pennsylvania State University	$1,473	$1,289	14%	97,000
Orlando, FL	Northeast	University of Central Florida	$1,552	$1,385	12%	60,000
Madison, WI	State-Langdon	University of Wisconsin	$1,794	$1,611	11%	43,000
Greenville, SC	Clemson	Clemson University	$1,288	$1,158	11%	23,000
Ann Arbor, MI	Ann Arbor	University of Michigan	$1,964	$1,793	9%	44,000

*Within 2 miles of campus

About HomeUnion

HomeUnion is an online real estate investment management firm. Based in Irvine, Calif., it provides all the services needed for individuals to invest remotely in SFR properties. The company uses a combination of research and data-driven proprietary analytics to incorporate over 120 million homes and 200,000 neighborhoods into their database, and then delivers its solutions to an on-the-ground infrastructure that currently serves 21 locations. HomeUnion's role spans the lifecycle of the investment transaction: from identifying sound investments, handling all aspects of acquisition, maximizing income, protecting asset value, and selling it when the time comes.

SOURCE HomeUnion