Texas Tech Grew 9%. Lubbock Rents Grew 1.6%.
What's Behind the Gap?
Texas Tech added 3,841 students this fall, about 9% growth in one year. Lubbock apartment rents rose 1.6%, according to CoStar.
The demand is real. Tech opened the semester above 45,000 students for the first time, and the official count reached 46,296, up 13% since 2024. The freshman class set a record at 9,532, nearly 40% bigger than two years ago. Lubbock absorbed 645 apartment units over the past year, well above the 10-year average of 389, while only 191 new units were delivered, the fewest in a decade. Vacancy fell from 12.4% to 10.8%. But much of that demand is filling units that were already empty, and until that slack is gone, owners can’t count on enrollment growth turning into rent growth.
The bigger wave hasn’t hit yet. Tech requires freshmen to live on campus their first year, and this year the dorms ran out of room. Over the next two years, that class starts looking off campus, just as new supply arrives: 471 apartment units under construction, a planned residence hall of roughly 1,000 beds, and a 671 bed student project near campus slated for fall 2027.
If I owned a Lubbock multifamily property, here's what I'd watch.
Unit mix matters. Only about 10% of Lubbock apartments are three-bedrooms, the floor plan larger roommate groups look for. Location matters too: a property on a bus route a mile out can compete with a closer one that needs a car. Most of all, I’d watch vacancy and concessions near campus next spring. That’s where we’ll first see whether new students are tightening the market or just moving between buildings.
Enrollment tells you how many students are coming. It doesn't tell you where they'll live or what they can afford, and that's what decides how a multifamily investment performs here.
Contact Haley
| Phone: | 325.280.7730 |
| Email: | haley@cbccapitaladvisors.com |