Aurobindo Saxena

RAYSolute Consultants

South Korea Student Housing (PBSA) Market Report 2026

Q: What is student housing consulting?

Student housing consulting helps developers, investors, and universities plan, design, and operate purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). RAYSolute provides feasibility studies, market demand analysis, operator selection, and yield optimisation for student housing projects.

Q: How large is the student housing market?

Global purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) is a USD 200 billion+ asset class growing at 5 to 8% annually. Demand is driven by rising international student enrolment, urbanisation of universities, and a chronic shortage of quality off-campus housing.

Q: How long does a student housing feasibility study take?

A RAYSolute student housing feasibility study typically takes 6 to 10 weeks, covering demand analysis, competitive benchmarking, financial modelling, and site assessment. Express desk-reports are available in 3 weeks.

Q: Does RAYSolute work with international student housing markets?

Yes. RAYSolute advises on student housing markets across the UK, Australia, Canada, USA, Germany, UAE, India, and Southeast Asia, delivering localised demand studies and regulatory guidance for each market.

Structural Dormitory Shortage: Sub-25% On-Campus Coverage, Zero Confirmed Institutional PBSA Operators, 314,397 International Students

Market at a Glance

Key indicators for South Korea student accommodation, a structural dormitory shortage with no confirmed institutional operator

South Korea's on-campus dormitory accommodation rate for 4-year universities fell to 22.2% in 2025 (down 0.6 percentage points year-on-year from 22.6% in 2024); junior colleges cover just 16.0% of students (2024, down 0.5pp YoY). No named research house (Knight Frank, Savills, CBRE, JLL) publishes a Korea-specific PBSA market size, and RAYSolute has not identified a confirmed institutional PBSA operator (Greystar, Yugo, Student Roost or similar) present in the market. The gap is filled by university residences and a large private goshiwon/officetel rental sector.

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