60 Seconds with Swett: Here We Go Again
AARP just published a report on assisted living, and all I can say is, here we go again. It concludes that “the state of assisted living today is cause for concern for many stakeholders. The lack of national federal standards for care centers creates an underregulated space.” It continues on, stating that the “absence of national oversight, standards, and definitions results in a patchwork of inconsistent state policies forming the national landscape of assisted living.” The report also mentions that affordability is a growing problem, and we could not agree more. However, as we saw in the nursing home industry, when you start to over-regulate, with national staffing standards and rules,... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: The REITs’ Acquisition Appetite
With most of the Q1 earnings results in, we’ve been sifting through a lot of good news on occupancy growth, resident rate increases, expanding NOI margins and the phenomenal long-term outlooks. But our main takeaway had to be the major M&A plans that almost every publicly traded company has completed so far this year and plans to close throughout the rest of 2026. They represent an enormous amount of capital flooding into the market, and although they are not all playing in the same sandbox, the increased acquisition appetite should have an effect on pricing for assets, particularly for the highly in-demand Class-A, well performing properties. The REITs will surely feel pressure to... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Senior Care’s PR Problem
Recently, we have seen stories circulating about the connection between REIT ownership and the way skilled nursing facilities provide care, stemming from a study written by the nonprofit journalism outlet KFF Health News. We’ve seen this before, headlines like “real estate investors profit while patients suffer,” usually with graphic cases of mistreatment highlighted. Of course, patient abuse and bad actors are out there, but these “studies,” and more so the journalists that cover them, often lose sight of any other factors that could lead to a decline in quality of care, a change in staffing ratios, or the net income on an income statement. There has been a narrative that is usually being... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Sticks and Bricks in ’26?
The talk around new development is getting a lot more serious in the seniors housing industry, leading us to wonder if our 2024 prediction of “Sticks and Bricks in ‘26” may actually come true, somewhat. Back then, we may have thought that interest rates would have come down a bit more by now, but that the FOMO of getting involved in seniors housing combined with rising prices in the M&A market would kick off a new building boom. We doubt there will be any “boom” in 2026, but the signs are there for increased activity. A couple of architects we spoke to at NIC said they were busier than ever, even if most builders are not putting as many shovels in dirt as they would like. The main... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Institutional M&A Strategies
With the lack of new development and the alluring demographic opportunity in seniors housing, it has felt like a race among many institutional investors to grow their portfolios in the M&A market. Bidding environments have grown intense for high-quality assets, driving prices up, cap rates down, and the losing bidders more and more frustrated, and thus willing to go off market with high offers. The REITs have all been trying to catch up to Welltower, and have been very competitive in the bidding process. Major funds and investment firms that bowed as buyers after the pandemic and the capital markets crisis have largely returned to the space, and new entrants are increasingly knocking... Read More »Schedule a demo
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