The increase in rent prices has become evident on several student housing apartments in the San Marcos area. Texas State students have no other choice than to pay the high rates offered by apartment complexes.
There are 38,694 students enrolled at Texas State and with only about 7,000 living on campus, that leaves nearly 80 percent of students looking for a place to live and an open market for the San Marcos real estate. With so many students looking for housing many apartment complexes have been able to increase their prices and keep their units full. The increase in rates has been justified with the special amenities offered to the students.
Apartments like Copper Beach and The Villagio are part of the student housing apartments that have increased their prices. The special amenities that such apartment complexes offer to students include internet, cable, gym, computer labs and fully furnished units.
In the past year and a half, the unit rates for Copper Beach and The Villagio apartment have raised their price each semester and predict another increase in rates in the Spring of 2018.
Copper Beach started its rates in the Fall of 2015 with $785 for one bedroom, $600 for a two bedroom, $525 for a three bedroom, and $495 for a four bedroom. The spring of the same year Copper Beach’s prices went up. The same one bedroom was then $890, a two bedroom $625, a three bedroom $555, and a four bedroom $530. The prices for Fall 2016 increased even more. A one bedroom is now $910, a two bedroom is $705, a three bedroom is $605, and a four bedroom is $589.
Similarly, The Villagio has increased their prices dramatically. Their current standard rates start at $610 for a A 2×2 bedroom and $620 for a B 2×2 bedroom, though individual prices may vary. The prices of this year’s rent is predicted to increase even more by the beginning of the Spring semester. Employees at The Villagio said the apartment complex is part of a tier system and the prices increase as more units fill up and space is limited. In the Spring of 2016, the same A 2×2 bedroom went for as much as $625. A much higher rate is predicted for the current rate of $620 for a A 2×2.
Employees in these complexes predict prices will continue to rise at the beginning of the 2017 Spring semester.
Texas State students are worried about the increase in prices and fear they will soon be unaffordable. Azul Mirelesa, family and child development senior, is currently a resident of Copper Beach.
“I can’t actually afford college, and rent is making a lot more difficult for me to stay in school,” Mireles said.
The increase in price rates in student housing may pose a potential issue for the Texas State enrollment and dropout rates if these prices continue to rise.