Students Begin Searching for Affordable Housing in 2019

“The housing fair is effective. Some people just go for the prizes but some people actually do need housing off campus,” said Tyler Evans, Lafayette Place resident director. Photo by Madison Aman.

The number of apartment homes in Oxford has been expanding rapidly. But with two year span of enrollment decline at the university, there may not be enough renters to go around.

With the fall semester halfway over, students are already looking for a place to call home for next year. Local apartment complexes are targeting new renters in any way they can.

“The housing fair is effective. Some people just go for the prizes but some people actually do need housing off campus,” said Tyler Evans, Lafayette Place resident director. “Most people go see what the price is before they go somewhere and sign.”

In the past few years, managers at apartment complexes in Oxford say they have been planning for an increase in student enrollment at Ole Miss. Because there was a decrease, this left many apartment complexes in serious competition with each other to fill vacancies.

“The classes have dipped over the years,” said Ryan Sugiharn, manager at Highland Square. “The students aren’t increasing which leads to low occupancy across the board.”

Ole Miss senior Justin Cowling said by playing the waiting game, this could mean lower rents for students. 

“You need to go looking around May, June, July, April because then prices are low because they’re trying to fill up as quickly as they can and beat their competition,” he said.

Story contributed by broadcast journalism students Madison Aman and Kory Calhoun.