Market Rates

Finding rent control is difficult these days. Despite national trends, real estate in Philadelphia is hot, and off-campus housing is no exception.
Temple students living off campus are facing rising rent due to the demands of a growing student body. Now the Board of Trustees has re-evaluated the university’s rental properties – the residence halls.

The board’s student affairs committee voted last week to raise on- campus housing prices anywhere from 4.75 to 5 percent, based on the residence. While the board usually raises housing rates every year, this one was up from last year’s hike of 3.5 to 4 percent.

Students are facing a financial crunch from all directions. Tuition increases usually range between 6 and 7 percent each year, private lending has become increasingly difficult as fears of recession grow, and rising rent is the last thing students want to worry about.

Off-campus landlords have certainly taken note of the increasing demand of a growing residential campus, often overcharging students for substandard housing just because of its proximity to the campus.

In a March 3 article about off-campus living [“Rental properties lack necessary amenities,” Brittany Diggs] junior mechanical engineering major Mark Calloway told The Temple News, “It seems like the closer you get to campus, the more outrageous the prices are because [landlords] know kids from the suburbs.

“Parents will pay for them to only have to walk a block away from campus, even though the house is some crap.”

Between 1990 and 2000, the median price of a home in the area surrounding Temple rose to $55,000 from $14,999. The asked rent rose to $275 from $218, according to the 2000 census.
With such striking increases in the real estate directly adjacent to main campus, no wonder the Board of Trustees wants to keep up.

The university is landlord to some of the hottest real estate in town. University residence halls are located close to classes, with security and utilities included. It’s no surprise that the Board of Trustees sees the value in their own real estate. With a strong local housing market, they’d be foolish not to.