• Cap Rates Continue Compression in JLL’s Investor Survey

    Ben Swett, Managing Editor of The SeniorCare Investor, sat down with Bryan Lockard, Executive Managing Director of JLL’s Value and Risk Advisory, to discuss the results of JLL’s recently published 2026 Seniors Housing & Care Investor Survey and Trends. They also covered some major topics heading into NIC in Nashville. Read More »
  • 60 Seconds with Swett: Burning Questions for NIC Attendees

    This time next week, we’ll be heading out of Nashville from the Spring NIC conference likely buoyed by the overwhelmingly positive mood we’re expecting from most of our industry friends. It’s hard not to be optimistic when occupancy and margins are increasing to healthy levels nationally, and show no signs of stopping, when liquidity is... Read More »
  • Janus Living’s IPO Results

    Janus Living has completed its initial public offering, raising $878 million after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated expenses payable by the company. The REIT sold 48.3 million shares of its Class A-1 common stock at $20 per share, including the full exercise of the underwriters’ 6.3 million-share option. It made its New York... Read More »
  • VIUM Capital Secures Slew of HUD and Bridge Financings

    VIUM Capital recently closed a series of healthcare and seniors housing real estate financings across multiple states, spanning both HUD-insured loans and bridge executions for skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care assets. The largest loan was a $56.4 million HUD financing for a 325-bed skilled nursing facility in Florida. The facility... Read More »
  • Several Senior Care Finances Close

    Jeremy Warren of Montgomery Intermediary Group reported an active end of winter, closing a handful of debt transactions for clients in Illinois and Kentucky. First, he helped the owner of a 77-bed skilled nursing facility in Kentucky refinance existing acquisition debt following a successful operational turnaround. Since acquiring the facility... Read More »
The Consistency of Skilled Nursing Facility Expense Ratios

The Consistency of Skilled Nursing Facility Expense Ratios

Just like the average cap rate, the average expense ratio in the skilled nursing market for facilities sold has been very consistent. For the past five years, it has had a low of 88.2% and a high of 88.7%, for a very small 50 basis point spread, according to the 2017 Senior Care Acquisition Report. It was 88.5% in 2015 and 88.6% in 2016, just to show the consistency. Obviously, this excludes expenses such as interest, depreciation, amortization, taxes and rent. When these are all included, it is clear to see why the skilled nursing industry complains to their elected representatives as well as CMS that it is difficult to make money. And future cuts to Medicaid (as promised by both the... Read More »

Cash Flow Drives Record Skilled Nursing Prices

We have written several times in recent years that reports of the “death of the skilled nursing facility” have been greatly exaggerated. That is clearly evident in the record-high prices we have recorded in the sector, soaring to an average of $99,200 per bed in 2016 (up from the previous record of $85,900 per bed in 2015) and to a median of $94,660 per unit (from $66,500 per bed in 2015), according to the Senior Care Acquisition Report. But this pricing peak contradicts a normally reliable indicator of the market’s health. As we have always stated, it is the absolute level of net operating income (NOI, and interchangeable with EBITDA) that drives value in the market. From 2011 through... Read More »

Gross Income Multiple Falls For Seniors Housing Deals

A popular multiple that investors use to measure the value of a seniors housing and care property is the Gross Income Multiple (GIM). So, as prices have stayed consistently near record-highs for seniors housing (independent living and assisted living) properties, how much were buyers paying with respect to the properties’ revenues? In 2016, according to the 22nd Edition of The Senior Care Acquisition Report, the average GIM fell 15 basis points to 3.75x from the 3.9x recorded in both 2014 and 2015, widely considered the height of the seniors housing bull market. The median fell by a larger degree (30 basis points) and to a level not seen since 2011, when it was also 3.2x. Understandably,... Read More »
The Future of Medicaid Block Grants

The Future of Medicaid Block Grants

Our editor Steve Monroe moderated a webinar on June 8 called “Skilled Nursing Reimbursement Under Trump Care” with panelists Joshua Jandris of IPA Seniors Housing and Marc Zimmet of Zimmet Healthcare Services Group, where they discussed Medicare reimbursement changes, the future of Medicaid managed care plans and the next shoe to drop on the reimbursement front under a Trump administration. If you are interested in hearing the 90-minute discussion, you can purchase the webinar here. During the webinar, Mr. Monroe brought in the audience to voice their opinion too, and here are the results: Do you think Medicare SNF payments should basically fund the shortfall of Medicaid payments, such as... Read More »

Cash Flow Is King

Many buyers prize a community’s cash flow over other factors. If a community is already making money, and avoids any major missteps, it is probably a safe bet for investors. Neither 2015 nor 2016 reached the record average NOI per unit set in 2014 of $14,200 per unit, but in a year when the average price per unit for seniors housing (including both independent and assisted living) increased, it makes sense that NOI per unit would increase in turn, by $500 per unit from 2015 (11,700 per unit) to 2016 ($12,200 per unit). Separating it out by sector, one would think that if independent living prices rose by $35,300 per unit, or 18%, one would see a corresponding increase in the NOI per unit... Read More »

The REIT Price for Seniors Housing

Last week, we looked at the price REITs paid on average for skilled nursing facilities in 2016, according to the 22nd Edition of The Senior Care Acquisition Report, compared with other buyers in the industry. But what about in seniors housing? REITs have been far more active buyers in the space, with many of the private REITs getting involved in a sector with less stroke-of-the-pen risk (in fact, they bought five seniors housing properties to every one skilled nursing facility in 2016). Also, most of the revenue collected by assisted living or independent living communities comes from private payers, and REITs tend not to purchase those assisted living communities with significant, if any,... Read More »