OK, so perhaps homelessness amongst local college students is an imaginary problem --- but if it were an issue, local student housing developers are certainly being VERY proactive in making sure there will be plenty of housing for college students for a LONG time into the future.

Per the Daily News Record yesterday, the student housing project on Stone Spring Road is now underway again after having stalled for several years.  When it stalled, I had hoped that the developers (both local and out of state) had seen the light and realized that the local student housing market was oversaturated.  But alas, these facts don't seem to be influencing their decisions.  From the DNR article....


As a side note, that does seem to be a winning strategy, as many or most of the newer complexes have not had any issues in becoming fully leased.

So, why am I a bit less than neutral on this news?  Well, the student housing market is a bit out of kilter (supply exceeds demand) and this new development will tip it even further out of balance.  An out of balance market tends to be an unhealthy market, and in this case it can negatively affect individual property owners (in student complexes) much more than it will ultimately affect larger corporate owners of student housing.

For further reading.....

• Where do JMU college students live in Harrisonburg?
• Should Local Government Make Rezoning Decisions Based On Market Conditions?
• Do Harrisonburg and JMU Need More Student Housing?
• Do You Think Harrisonburg's Student Housing Vacancy Rates Are High Now? You Haven't Seen Anything Yet!
• History Repeats Itself: The Cyclical Nature of Student Housing in Harrisonburg
• Harrisonburg Has A Tremendous Over-Supply of Student Housing for JMU Students
  
• The real reasons why so much student housing is being built for JMU students...
  
• Understanding the Over-Supply of JMU Student Housing
• JMU Student Housing Supply & Demand Analysis