• Bullish Move by Welltower

    Welltower has been a growth and M&A machine under the leadership of Shankh Mitra. As of October 27, the REIT has closed or has under contract close to $14 billion of pro rata gross investments across the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom this year. These include more than 700 seniors housing properties with more than 46,000 units. Not too... Read More »
  • Welltower Shatters Single-Day Dollar Volume Record

    October was already on its way to setting records for M&A activity in the seniors housing and care industry before Welltower announced the most transaction dollar volume we have ever seen in a single day when it released its third quarter earnings. A couple of the largest portfolio acquisitions took place across the pond, but the REIT also... Read More »
  • South Carolina Portfolio Trades

    Newmark has hit a rich vein of activity, announcing several closings in the last few days. First, the team sold three communities across the Greenville, South Carolina, area on behalf of Atlas Senior Living. The communities were built between 2014 and 2016 and totaled 306 units, including 108 independent living, 144 assisted living and 54 memory... Read More »
  • Blueprint Closes in Kentucky and Colorado

    Blueprint has been adding to our record-breaking October M&A haul, announcing a couple of closings in the last week. First, Kyle Hallion handled another sale in his home state of Kentucky, this time on behalf of a local family owner/operator with deep ties to this asset’s local market. The senior care facility features 64 skilled nursing beds... Read More »
  • Southern California Communities Get New Owner

    Berkadia handled the sale and financing of two seniors housing communities in Southern California. The transaction included an 84-unit assisted living and memory care community in the San Diego suburbs and a 72-unit memory care community in the Los Angeles suburbs. These were older vintage properties with some Medicaid census but were very strong... Read More »
Ventas Reports Third Quarter Results

Ventas Reports Third Quarter Results

Ventas’ third quarter results are in and were less than optimal for its seniors housing operating portfolio (SHOP). Comparing the third quarter of 2019 with the same quarter in 2018, same-store cash NOI for its SHOP fell by 5.0%. Occupancy figures were not pretty either, with the quarter ending approximately 115 basis points lower than the end of the third quarter of 2018. The average third quarter occupancy compared with the average of Q3:18 was a less drastic 70-basis point drop. The company acknowledged that overbuilding in some markets led to price competition and pressure on revenues (a refreshingly honest admission when compared with other public companies), which contributed to the... Read More »
Oxford Living Acquires Another Ontario Portfolio

Oxford Living Acquires Another Ontario Portfolio

Institutional investment and development firm Oxford Capital Group, together with its joint venture partner, has made a large investment in the Canadian seniors housing sector, acquiring a portfolio of six private pay communities located throughout Ontario. These communities provide both independent living and supportive living services throughout the 645 total units. They are located in Toronto, Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Kitchener and Guelph, and join Oxford’s nine other communities in Ontario (all acquired in just the last nine months). Oxford made the acquisition through its affiliate Oxford Living in a joint venture with New York-based insurance and investment firm, Starr Insurance... Read More »
Brookfield Bets Big on Australian Seniors Housing Market

Brookfield Bets Big on Australian Seniors Housing Market

Looking outside of the U.S. seniors housing market, it’s obvious that the sector is a popular target in markets around the world. Just look at Ventas’ doubling down on the Canadian seniors housing market with its C$2.4 billion portfolio acquisition of 31 retirement communities in Quebec earlier this summer, nearly doubling its portfolio from 41 properties to 76, with the NOI of those properties expected to make up 21% of its entire SHOP NOI. For them, Canada has been a very good performer. Australia has attracted the interest of Canadian investment fund Brookfield, which is spending A$1.27 billion ($860 million), on Aveo, a Sydney-based company that owns and operates 94 retirement... Read More »
The Great Development Slowdown

The Great Development Slowdown

Everyone is talking about development slowing down, but over development is just part of the problem. We have been hearing it for a few months: seniors housing development is slowing down, based on fewer new construction starts. We have heard it from NIC MAP, from HCVenTower, and now Brookdale Senior Living. They are all saying that in many of their markets, they are seeing light at the end of the over-development tunnel. Maybe. It is one thing if new starts are declining, but it is quite another to fill the current empty units plus the new supply that is currently opening, and going to open. Let’s just say, we are not out of the woods yet, and census is only one part of the problem. Not... Read More »
Ventas Reports Second Quarter Results

Ventas Reports Second Quarter Results

Ventas (VTR) was the first one out of the block to report second quarter earnings, and while the results were about as expected, on the seniors housing and care side the turnaround has still not arrived. In fact, the second quarter was disappointing but not unexpected, given all the quiet industry talk about census, margins and staffing costs. One caveat is that just four companies make up two-thirds of VTR’s seniors housing and care portfolio, and one can question whether they are representative of the industry. But since two of the four are Atria Senior Living and Sunrise Senior Living, we are not talking about the dregs of the sector. For the seniors housing operating portfolio (SHOP),... Read More »