The “Post-COVID” Assisted Living M&A Market Takes Shape
It is safe to say the senior care M&A market in 2020 is quite different from that of 2019, in terms of the number of acquisitions closed, the values for senior care properties and perhaps most importantly, the types of properties actually put up for sale. Value-add and distressed communities have so far dominated the market since the onset of COVID-19, as owners of newer, stabilized communities are largely sitting on the sidelines to wait for a seller’s market again. Who knows when that will happen? Assisted living communities have been hit hard across the board, census-wise and with cash flow too. As a result, we have seen the sales of many struggling communities, which brought... Read More »
National Health Investors Provides Occupancy and Rent Update
We appreciate any transparency from companies and how they are dealing with impact from COVID-19. As such, National Health Investors provided an update for its latest rent collection and occupancy results. The REIT collected 96.6% of contractual rent in September, which improved on the 95.3% success rate announced in August. In addition, 2.9% of rent was deferred, including 2.6% related to a previously disclosed deferral to Bickford Senior Living. The remaining balance reflected forecasted revenue that NHI had expected to receive from transitioned properties prior to the pandemic. Another tenant has also agreed to a deferral of approximately $560,000 in each in each the third and fourth... Read More »
Average Assisted Living Occupancy Falls To New Low
The latest occupancy numbers from NIC are in and hit another low that the industry will be spending months and probably years to rebound from. Perhaps most notably, in the three months ending in August, the assisted living market fell below an average of 80% occupancy for the first time ever, to 79.5%. That is a 60-basis point drop from July’s trailing-three month level, which may have shocked us in the past, but after the nearly 170-basis point fall from June, it could be worse. To be fair, that is just across the 31 Primary Markets that NIC tracks for its quarterly results, but with COVID-19 affecting most localities nationwide and its economic ramifications even more widespread, we... Read More »
What About the MOB M&A Market?
With seniors housing and care transactions slowing to a crawl in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s check in on another healthcare real estate sector that has not seen the same decline. Medical office building (MOB) transactions have been flowing steadily throughout the third quarter, with 11 deals on the books so far according to our M&A database Deal Search Online. Most deals are focused on facilities in the Southeastern region of the United States, such as Alabama, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, and the buyers are a mix of REITs, private real estate investment firms, and developers. So far in the third quarter, over 376,000 square feet of MOBs have been sold, with... Read More »
Senior Care M&A Market Remains at the Bottom
It appears we have hit the bottom of the seniors housing and care M&A market. For the second month in a row, we have recorded 18 publicly announced transactions in July, according to our database Deal Search Online. That is less than half of the monthly average in 2019 of 37.5 deals, and when taking into account the deals that actually closed in July (as opposed to publicly disclosed), activity was likely even lower. And from what we hear on the ground, conditions for dealmaking are not improving as quickly as was maybe thought back in May. And certainly not quick enough for the parties involved in closing the deals, we’re sure. Just over half of the deals were for... Read More »