• Did Blackstone Sell Too Soon?

    According to recent media reports, real estate investor The Blackstone Group has sold and is in the process of selling about $1.8 billion in seniors housing assets. It wants to completely exit the seniors housing business which they claim has been a disaster for them. One report stated that they have lost upwards of $600 million across the... Read More »
  • Brookdale Continues Winning Streak

    The big question is, why did this not happen earlier? We are talking about Brookdale Senior Living’s occupancy recovery, and why the previous leadership seemed unable to move the needle, but as soon as they were gone, everything has been on an upward trend. Hmmmmm.  Things are not perfect at Brookdale, but they never were. However,... Read More »
  • National Health Investors Adjusts Its SHOP Portfolio

    National Health Investors, Inc. announced some adjustments to its SHOP portfolio, raising its full-year guidance for the third consecutive quarter due to the contribution of recently transitioned and newly acquired SHOP properties, along with continued strength in its investment pipeline. The REIT also had an update on its lease agreement with... Read More »
  • Strawberry Fields’ Three Separate SNF Transactions

    Strawberry Fields REIT, Inc. announced three separate skilled nursing transactions that closed during the third quarter. Two previously announced acquisitions were in Missouri, and the recently announced purchase was in Oklahoma.  In July, the REIT completed the acquisition of nine skilled nursing facilities with 686 beds in Missouri. The... Read More »
  • Receivership Estate Sells in Alabama

    Kory Buzin and Steve Thomes of Blueprint handled another successful sale on behalf of a lender and special servicer, this time involving a receivership estate in Mobile, Alabama. Knollwood Point, a 2001-vintage, 46-unit assisted living and memory care community, struggled in recent years as a result of challenged occupancy and volatile staffing.... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: October Smashes M&A Record

60 Seconds with Swett: October Smashes M&A Record

We were predicting a record-breaking end to the year in terms of M&A activity, but we are not sure we expected a 100+ deal month, with 110 transactions and counting. Just to put that in perspective, the previous record for any month was 77 deals in October of last year, and only four months had previously broken the 70-deal barrier. So this October beat the previous record by 43%, and it’s still just a preliminary total. That is out of this world. There were nearly 100 separate buyers, according to the individual deal data available in LevinPro LTC, the most prolific being, unsurprisingly, Welltower. But Welltower’s activity is actually understated in the figures, as a significant... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: Previewing Our Capital Markets Conversation

60 Seconds with Swett: Previewing Our Capital Markets Conversation

We know that the capital markets have made the biggest impact on M&A activity and property valuations in the last several years, changing the size of possible deals, the makeup of the properties sold and the buyers that could actually buy. Now that the capital markets have substantially improved and are getting better, barring a sudden and lasting trade war with China, how is the psyche of lenders, buyers and sellers changing in the senior care industry? What terms are now possible to refinance your seniors housing community? Are deals possible that did not pencil last year? Should sidelined sellers jump back into the M&A market? And how are growth strategies going to change in... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: October Smashes M&A Record

60 Seconds with Swett: Will Q4 Set Records?

Happy fourth quarter everybody, and it should be a record-breaking one with all of the transaction pipelines we are aware of. Of course, deals have to close, and some will inevitably be kicked to Q1. But there is enough optimism among buyers, lenders, operators and certainly the brokers that dealmaking activity should hit new heights in the coming months.  We are already at a record-breaking M&A volume in 2025, with a sensational summer culminating in September hitting a 2025 monthly high with 70 deals announced, and counting. Only two other months have ever surpassed 70 deals, and they were in 2024. On an annualized basis, we would hit 840 deals at that level. And based on the... Read More »
60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: The Future of Seniors Housing

60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: The Future of Seniors Housing

Five years ago, at the onset of the COVID pandemic, I wrote a long white paper on the future of seniors housing based on what was happening in the Spring of 2020. The future was questionable. Now, five years later, it seems as if nothing has changed, and everything has changed. I had to miss my first Fall NIC in 35 years, but I heard there was a lot of talk about the future and what may happen, and that the “feel” today was much like the post-recession years of 2013 to 2017. Everything looking up, values rising, investors jumping in, sentiment at a recent peak, lenders very competitive, and so on. The only thing missing today compared with back then is the lack of new development. So,... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: October Smashes M&A Record

60 Seconds with Swett: Getting Realistic with New Development

The positive mood at the NIC Fall Conference was contagious, as dealmakers were looking forward to a potential record-breaking fourth quarter. We at LevinPro are also gearing up to cover a new elevated level of M&A activity and pricing in the coming months, with our updated valuation tool better accounting for today’s market and the estimated prices for higher-quality, better-performing properties. But one disappointment from the conference may have been the conversation surrounding new development, particularly building for the middle market. We don’t fault anyone for being constrained by the simple math of the cost to build and the rents needed to cover those costs. If anything, the... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: October Smashes M&A Record

60 Seconds with Swett: Heading Down to Austin

We are looking forward to flyin’ down to Austin next week for the NIC Fall Conference, as we are anticipating a very positive mood among the attendees. That is because M&A activity is high and healthy. The capital markets keep improving from a deal terms and liquidity perspective. The promise of a 25-basis point interest rate cut is probably boosting spirits more than actually making much of a financial impact on the cost of borrowing.  Meanwhile the operating environment continues to make steady progress, and property values are on the rise, at least according to our latest valuation stats available on LevinPro LTC, which could entice more sellers into the market with their... Read More »