• West Coast and Northeast Skilled Nursing Facilities Sell

    Walker & Dunlop’s Gideon Orion has announced several recent skilled nursing sales on the West Coast and the Northeast. First, he teamed up with Tony Cassie to sell a 69-bed skilled nursing facility in Bellevue, Washington, on behalf of a family office seller. The facility could use some operational improvements. An undisclosed buyer paid... Read More »
  • Investor Acquires Community Out of Receivership  

    Fortress Investment Group acquired an assisted living/memory care community in Palm Coast, Florida, in a court-approved sale process. Built in 2018 just a mile from the Atlantic Ocean, the community features 130 units on an 11.4-acre site. There are 86 assisted living units and 22 memory care units, along with 22 “enhanced” assisted living... Read More »
  • Seniors Housing Deals Close Across Several Markets

    Coming off of a successful 2025 with 32 separate transaction closings totaling more than $900 million in volume, the Walker & Dunlop investment sales team is off to a strong start in 2026 with a number of seniors housing and healthcare real estate transactions closed in the first quarter, so far. The deals spanned several markets, and the... Read More »
  • Selectis Health Divests Two SNFs to Journey

    Selectis Health is selling two skilled nursing facilities in Georgia to the skilled nursing operator Journey. The deal included the 101-bed Glen Eagle Healthcare in Abbeville and the 100-bed Rehab and Eastman Healthcare and Rehab in Eastman. Journey-affiliated entities will purchase the pair for $15.7 million, or $78,100 per bed, subject to... Read More »
  • Sonida Closes CNL Acquisition, Reports Q4 Results

    On the same day as fourth quarter and year-end 2025 financial results were announced, Sonida Senior Living closed on its previously announced acquisition of CNL Healthcare Properties (CNL). The transaction value was approximately $1.8 billion and included a combination of cash (32%) and stock (68%). Because Sonida’s share price had risen above... Read More »
Second Quarter Occupancy Results

Second Quarter Occupancy Results

NIC MAP just released its second-quarter occupancy trends results, and unfortunately, it was not what the industry had hoped for. For the overall seniors housing industry, average occupancy remained flat at 78.7% from the first quarter to the second quarter.   Given the reports of bottoming out by March for several of the large operators and the REITs with large operating portfolios, and strong census increases in April and May, we were a bit surprised that the quarter-to-quarter change was stagnant. We figured maybe at least a 50-basis point increase or higher. The one thing this tells us is that the early spring momentum did not carry over into June. Or possibly it was the... Read More »
Seniors Housing Rates: Actual vs. Asking

Seniors Housing Rates: Actual vs. Asking

For years, NIC MAP has been presenting quarterly changes in seniors housing asking rates, but it is now trying to get beyond that and get the actual rental rates. That will add a lot more needed transparency. As many of you know, NIC is working hard to develop its database of actual rents in seniors housing as opposed to the “asking” rents that have been used in their NIC Map numbers for years. This is very important because not until the market sees the actual rents communities are getting will we have a better understanding of the extent of price discounting in various markets.  We have been a little vocal about the asking rent number because when times are tough, like they... Read More »

NIC MAP Q3 Occupancy Results Fall Short Of Expectations

In more normal times, whatever that may be, the third quarter is supposed to be a good one for occupancy increases, perhaps the best quarter of the year. Not so in the past three years, however. NIC MAP has reported yet another slow month for seniors housing occupancy, which does not bode well for the rest of the year or for early 2018. The modest (10 basis points) increase in assisted living occupancy, combined with the modest decrease (-10 basis points) for independent living, does not bode well for the fourth quarter, when recent weather-related events will surely have a negative impact. Following that will be the first quarter flu season problems, which in 2017 lasted well into the... Read More »
Independent Living Market Outperforms

Independent Living Market Outperforms

First quarter data from NIC MAP shows IL occupancy again exceeding assisted living, but with less new development. What is it about the independent living community market that keeps occupancy more stable than assisted living, yet sees a much lower level of new development? In the latest NIC MAP data on the first quarter, the IL market outperformed the AL market again, even though IL occupancy did slip a bit sequentially and year over year. I have a hard time understanding why there is not more development in the IL side of the business. Yes, they are larger properties that require more capital and a longer fill time, but it just seems they can be more tailored to any market’s particular... Read More »

Seniors Housing Occupancy Continues Its Decline

As many people expected, seniors housing occupancy levels declined in the first quarter this year, with assisted living posting larger declines than independent living. According to the recently released NIC MAP data, primarily assisted living communities in the 31 primary markets posted a sequential drop in occupancy of 50 basis points to 87.2%, and a year-over-year drop of 100 basis points. Even though these numbers were sort of expected, there was some hope that the sector was starting to turn things around in the quarter. Not yet. It was a little surprising that half the year-over-year drop came in one quarter, however. On the independent living side, occupancy in the top 31 markets... Read More »