Seniors Housing Occupancy Slides Further, But Slower
Well, it shouldn’t have surprised anyone, but occupancy levels for stabilized independent living and assisted living continued their drop in the month of May, according to NIC MAP. Across the country’s 31 largest metropolitan areas, assisted living properties first fell by 170 basis points from 87.8% in March (the first full month of the COVID-19 pandemic) to 86.1% in April. The sector occupancy fell by a lesser degree in May, by 90 basis points to 85.2%. So, in total, that is a 360-basis point drop for assisted living since the pandemic began. The independent living sector has so far fared better than assisted living, but it also has the benefit of being in a stronger position going... Read More »
National Health Investors: What Pandemic?
It seems that National Health Investors is doing just fine during this pandemic, as are its operators, apparently. The Tennessee-based REIT reported that it has collected 99.7% of its contractual rent in April, 100% in May, and so far, 99.4% in June. That should make shareholders feel pretty good right now. On the occupancy front, excluding communities that have been open less than 24 months, it was not quite as rosy but nothing they can’t handle. For 41 same-community properties operated by Bickford Senior Living, occupancy has dropped 240 basis points, from 86.6% in March to 84.2% in May. The first quarter averaged 87.3%. Senior Living... Read More »
May’s M&A Meltdown
The M&A statistics are in for May, and it was a doozy. Only 19 seniors housing and skilled nursing deals were publicly announced during the month, nearly half of which coming from the first quarter earnings reports of several public companies. Without those, we would have barely made it to double digits. You have to go back to July 2017 for such a low monthly total, when 16 sales were disclosed. Back then, however, the month was followed by a strong August (27 deals) and September (35). We’re not as hopeful for such a comeback this time. Another facet of May’s M&A activity was that nearly all of the deals were either closed in the first quarter or were all-but-completed... Read More »
Skilled Nursing Values Were Strong Before COVID-19
Leading up to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, skilled nursing facilities were going through their own challenges of falling census and shortening lengths of stay, low Medicaid reimbursement, aging physical plants, a labor squeeze and the possibility of a CMS correction after the implementation of PDPM. What some wouldn’t give to go back to those kinds of problems. However, values were near an all-time high, averaging $93,000 per bed in 2019 according to the 25th Edition of The Senior Care Acquisition Report, and falling slightly to an average of $92,800 per unit in the four quarters ended March 2020. That high average was the result of investors acquiring... Read More »
Where Will Independent Living Values Go?
Here’s the good news and the bad news regarding the independent living market today. The good news is that the fundamentals of the sector were stronger than ever as recent as this March, with values nearing a peak, occupancy consistently above 90% nationally, rents staying strong, and the labor problems largely avoiding IL communities. The bad news is that move-ins may be delayed for months, a recession may make selling and moving out of one’s home (and into an IL community) less feasible, and the socialization benefit of these communities may change significantly for some time. Anecdotally, we do hear of move-ins continuing at a steady pace, depending on the locality and... Read More »Schedule a demo
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