by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
The formerly hot asset class was already troubled by a multiyear decline in student enrollment and a surge in upscale supply.
“Student housing,” a subcategory of multifamily housing (apartments) in commercial real estate, is now dealing with an existential crisis – similar to retail and lodging. The mortgages backed by this once a hot asset class have been packaged into commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and sold to investors. Students aren’t exactly stable tenants. And the risks are high even in the Good Times.