Buyers Paid Premium For Strong Operations in 2020
In 2020, there was yet again a perfect correlation between the average price per unit paid for seniors housing communities and their operating margins. Throughout 2020, as occupancy and cash flow at senior care facilities dropped and costs of financing rose, we wondered exactly how the pandemic would affect the pricing of these assets. Would it have a disparate effect on skilled nursing versus seniors housing properties, older properties versus new ones, or on stabilized facilities versus non stabilized. We are almost done compiling all these statistics in the 26th Edition of The Senior Care Acquisition Report, but we wanted to highlight a historical trend that continued even through... Read More »
Diversified Healthcare Trust Update
Diversified Healthcare Trust is feeling the pain that most of the REITs also have been feeling: census is still dropping. Its senior housing operating portfolio (SHOP) posted a 380-basis point decline in census in the fourth quarter. While not good, the progression was worse. It started with a 70-basis point drop in October, growing to 130 basis points in November and then a plunge of 180 basis points in December alone. And this when 93% of its SHOP communities, the vast majority managed by Five Star Senior Living, are open for new admissions. What this means is that just because you are open for business, it does not necessarily mean people will move, even if it is safer... Read More »
Brookdale’s Census Continues To Tumble
Although not unexpected, occupancy levels at Brookdale Senior Living have continued to decline, much like the rest of the industry. But with Brookdale, occupancy at the end of December had tumbled to 71.5%, a 160-basis point decline from the end of November. This was the worst month-to-month decline since the end of April to May period, which was 150 basis points. The worst month came in April 2020 when the drop was 220 basis points. That was the previous COVID height, but the numbers nationally today are much worse. Average occupancy in December declined by 150 basis points to 71.5%. We are not sure what to expect after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and the associated spike in... Read More »
Average Occupancy Falls To (Yet Another) New Low
Most of us saw it coming, but the seniors housing industry hit new occupancy lows in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to new data from NIC MAP. The sector experienced a drop of 130 basis points from the third quarter average of 82.0% to 80.7%, based on the reporting communities in 31 primary markets. Across the entire industry, including those properties that do not report their occupancy figures, the average census could be lower. The assisted living market continues to feel the pain of higher move-out rates and fewer move-ins because of the lockdowns, impacts to demand and, of course, the holiday season. That dropped the sector’s average occupancy by 1.3 percentage points to 77.7%,... Read More »
Occupancy at Brookdale Senior Living Slides
In a sign of the times, tough times, Brookdale Senior Living just announced its November occupancy results, and the numbers are sobering. Average occupancy for the month was 72.8%, a drop of 100 basis points from October, which was double the October drop of “just” 50 basis points. That is a cumulative decline in occupancy of 990 basis points since March. If the winter months are going to be as bad as Dr. Fauci is predicting, it is quite possible that we will start to see sub-70% occupancy levels. That will be a disaster. What is interesting in the case of Brookdale is that 89% of its communities were still open for move-ins as of November 30, so that is not the... Read More »Schedule a demo
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