• 60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts

    There will be significant political interest in what happens to Medicaid funding as Republicans work to pass a budget and tax bill with their very slim majority. Touching entitlements remains politically risky, and the party is divided on whether any Medicaid cuts would be acceptable heading into an election cycle. At this stage, per-capita caps... Read More »
  • Sonida Senior Living Continues Upward Trend

    We are at the end of the first quarter 2025 earning roll call, and Sonida Senior Living posted another solid quarter. Weighted average occupancy for its same-community portfolio (56 communities) increased by 100 basis points year over year to 86.8%, which is at the top end of many of its competitors. In addition, same-community RevPOR increased... Read More »
  • Regional Owner/Operator Purchases Turnaround SNF

    Evans Senior Investments was engaged by a regional owner in a partnership with the University of Michigan Health-West Hospital to facilitate the sale of a skilled nursing facility in Wyoming, Michigan. Opened nearly 10 years ago, Healthbridge Post Acute comprises 65 beds and was experiencing operational challenges, including an annual net... Read More »
  • Family Owner Divests CCRC to Not-For-Profit

    Senwell Senior Investment Advisors sold a family-owned/operated CCRC in Maumee, Ohio, to a not-for-profit organization. The community had been in the seller’s family for 75 years, but they are divesting to enter retirement. Established in 1949, Elizabeth Scott Community spans 51 acres and offers independent living, assisted living, memory care... Read More »
  • HUD-Backed Seniors Housing Community Opens on Long Island

    A HUD-financed seniors housing project has celebrated its grand opening in Bay Shore, New York. Netherbay at Bay Shore is a state-of-the-art assisted living/memory care community located at the historic Gulden family’s summer homestead on Long Island. It features 72 units and is operated by Meridian Senior Living. Greystone’s Lisa Fischman had... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Still Making Progress

Sonida Senior Living Still Making Progress

As Col. Hannibal Smith of the A-Team was fond of saying, “I love it when a plan comes together.” For Sonida Senior Living, it has been a long struggle, and while it may be taking longer than management wanted, the plan is slowly coming together. Everything is moving in the right direction, with occupancy up 150 basis points year over year to 84.9% in the third quarter, higher than industry averages, resident revenue increased 12.6% year over year, adjusted EBITDA more than doubled in the third quarter compared with the year-ago quarter, and RevPOR increased by 11.7% year over year. October’s census increased by 40 basis points from September to over 86%. The third quarter also saw... Read More »
Chartwell Retirement Residences Sees Census Soar

Chartwell Retirement Residences Sees Census Soar

Canada-based Chartwell Retirement Residences has been seeing a resurgence of occupancy growth that seems to be above and beyond the normal third quarter increases that we have come to expect.  The third quarter saw census increase by 210 basis points from the June average of 80.1%, but it grew by another 100 basis points in October to 83.2%. They expect to add another 100 basis points over the next two months. Not too shabby. If they keep it up, they may reach the 95% occupancy levels of Ventas’s Canadian operators. Leasing activity in 2023 to date is 18% higher than the company’s pre-pandemic levels. Occupancy is now 600 basis points above its recent low of 77.2% in April 2022. With... Read More »
Is This The Time To Start A REIT?

Is This The Time To Start A REIT?

As we know, healthcare REITs suffered during the pandemic, with share prices hitting lows in March 2020. It was a long battle to regain previous values and even longer to sort out the various tenant problems. Balance sheets have been cleaned up, tenants and properties have been replaced, but there are still many legacy problems. Is now a good time to start a REIT with a clean slate? Well, 1031 Crowdfunding thinks so. It has just launched Covenant Senior Housing REIT, which out of the gate has three assisted living/memory care properties with a value of $51.25 million. The communities are located in Oregon and California with an average 89.0% occupancy. They plan to buy cash-flowing... Read More »
CareTrust REIT Steadies For The Future

CareTrust REIT Steadies For The Future

While it may not have been CareTrust REIT’s best quarter, there do not seem to be many problems with its tenants. The REIT collected 97.5% of contractual rent, up from 96.7% in the previous quarter. It helps when The Ensign Group is your major tenant. Lease coverage ratios are important when most of your business is triple net leases. For CareTrust, it is the envy of the industry. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2023 (REITs and their leases are always three months behind in reporting), CareTrust’s top 10 tenants had a combined EBITDARM coverage ratio of 2.87x, up from 2.71x for the previous 12-month period. And this excludes any use of HHS Relief Funds. Within this group, Ensign was tops... Read More »
CareTrust REIT Steadies For The Future

Sabra: The Manager Really Does Matter

There were a lot of moving parts during 2023 at Sabra Health Care REIT with regard to its former Enlivant portfolio, owned in a joint venture with private equity firm TPG. After defaulting on its Fannie Mae debt and basically handing the keys over to Fannie for a majority of its Enlivant assets, Sabra still owned 11 Enlivant-managed communities outside of its TPG joint venture.   These properties were transitioned to Inspirit Senior Living on July 6. In just three months, census in the portfolio increased by more than 230 basis points. We can’t wait to see where it will be this time next year. This has been a common theme of sorts: a new manager is brought in for underperforming... Read More »
NHI’s Tenants Continue To Improve

NHI’s Tenants Continue To Improve

As we are coming to the end of the third quarter earnings season, we apologize for sounding a bit like a broken record, but the fact of the matter is that the industry continues to claw its way out of the COVID pandemic pit. While it is taking longer than anyone wants, and longer than most people had expected, census and cash flow are increasing. The lack of new developments certainly has not hurt. Take National Health Investors as an example. Would CEO Eric Mendelsohn like to see more progress with his tenants? Sure, but the third quarter saw some of their providers post great increases in occupancy. Bickford’s same community results for 38 communities saw a 240-basis point increase in... Read More »