Valuations Remain High Across Senior Care Spectrum
Average prices for the four quarters ended June 30 dipped a little but most remain higher than calendar year 2015. Cap rates are slowly rising. Earlier this month, we reported that the seniors housing and care M&A market, based on the number of transactions announced in the second quarter, as well as the first six months of 2016, was ahead of last year, but not by a large margin. It was the dollar amount of those transactions, however, that has declined because of the dearth of the large sales. Now we have come out with our rolling four quarters data, and the results are not surprising. The conclusion is that based on valuations, the market remains relatively strong. In the skilled... Read More »
Continued Uncertainty At HCP
Lauralee Martin is out as CEO, but who will be in remains a mystery. The only thing surprising about the “sudden” announcement that Lauralee Martin stepped down as CEO of HCP, Inc. was that the effective date of her departure was also the announcement date. Now, we don’t want to read too many tea leaves into the situation, but remember that she came into the CEO position from the Board nearly three years ago in a tumultuous dumping of the previous CEO. She already had a top job at another real estate company and didn’t really need the aggravation. But she steered the REIT through another tumultuous period with, first the two lease adjustments, and then the in-process spin-off of the $6... Read More »
Seniors Housing and Record Low Interest Rates
The 10-year Treasury note rate hit a record low, but is that good news or bad? In case you haven’t noticed, the 10-year Treasury note rate, which is used for pricing many debt instruments, has fallen to a record low. Anything between 1.50% and 2.00% was considered to be Nirvana for seniors housing borrowers. But the 10-year rate has now dropped below that range, and has been flirting with 1.35%. Remember talk about rising interest rates? Yes, at some time it will happen, but that time seems to be getting pushed out into the more distant future with each piece of bad news. So for seniors housing borrowers this may appear to be good news. Except once you get beyond the euphoria of your... Read More »
Bed Sores and Advertising
Law firm advertising may be hitting a new low. I like to watch the news when I eat breakfast, and I must say, Brookdale Senior Living has been bombarding the airwaves with their folksy ads with real employees. Every morning, at least one ad. But the past two mornings, I had the unpleasant experience of seeing a completely different sort of ad, and something I had only seen in Florida over the years. It was for a law firm, and it was asking whether you or a loved one had experienced any number of problems at a skilled nursing facility. An unexplained fall, bruising or weight loss? The worst of it was the phone number they wanted you to call. It was 1-800-bed-sore. Really? Bed sore? I know... Read More »
