NIC MAP reported their preliminary first quarter results for occupancy and rate trends. With the relatively mild winter, the normal first quarter downward trend was somewhat muted this year, with assisted living occupancy dropping just 29 basis points sequentially and year-over-year for stabilized properties in all markets. Trailing 12-month absorption as a percent of supply for assisted living was 3.9%, up from 3.2% in the fourth quarter and 3.0% in the year-ago quarter. And construction starts as a percent of supply dropped both sequentially and year-over-year. Most people seem to have interpreted this to mean that supply and demand are catching up to each other. Anecdotally, we continue to hear of bloodbaths in certain markets, on both the occupancy and labor front. So pick your markets carefully.
Occupancy Down
