Dive Brief:

• New housing for college students is being increasingly funded by foreign investors, according to commercial real estate professionals attending the Atlanta Student Housing Summit this week.

• Panelists at a conference presentation also said students are demanding off-campus homes near bus lines that can take them directly to campus. Traditional dorm layouts with two-student rooms and shared bathrooms down the hall are here to stay, as they serve a social purpose. And off-campus students are looking for buildings with fitness centers, pools, saunas and other hotel-like amenities.

• An overriding concern among college students and universities is security on and off campus, especially in student apartment buildings and dormitories.

Dive Insight:

And the fifth trend discussed at the panel: Students want all of that—and lower housing costs.

Student housing operators are under more pressure to lower rents as college tuition increases and student debt rises. “Affordability is going to become the mantra,” Cecil Phillips, CEO of Atlanta-based real estate company Place Properties, said during the panel presentation.