By Matt Valley With mass vaccination efforts in the fight against COVID-19 well underway across the country and the economic clouds beginning to lift, the lending outlook for seniors housing has brightened considerably in recent months, say industry professionals. “If you are comparing today to pre-pandemic [market conditions], we think the lending environment is actually pretty good,” says Chuck Hastings vice president of finance and business development for Juniper Communities, an owner and/or operator of 25 seniors housing communities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Texas. The portfolio’s total resident …
COVID-19 pandemic froze property sales in 2020, and experts say the big thaw likely won’t occur until occupancy improves. By Jeff Shaw U.S. seniors housing property and portfolio sales ground to a halt in 2020, with a total transaction volume of $9.9 billion, down 48 percent from $17.9 billion the prior year, according to Real Capital Analytics (RCA). The last time annual property sales for the sector were below $10 billion was in 2010, when the economy was still recovering from the Great Recession and total volume registered $6.2 billion. …
Sales teams are forced to rework the way they do everything in the light of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions. By Jeff Shaw When outbreaks of COVID-19 rocked the United States starting in early 2020, Americans were hit with a barrage of frightening news reports. Since the virus is much more likely to kill older adults, every day the news was filled with reports of mass deaths in seniors housing communities, particularly skilled nursing facilities. The disease has driven occupancy to a record-low rate of 80.7 percent for private-pay seniors housing …
Operators leverage advancements in COVID-19 testing, telehealth and social media to protect mental and physical well-being of residents. By Eric Taub While the COVID-19 pandemic forced the nation to institute physical isolation to save lives, it’s a tragic irony that the strategy actually worsened the health of many of our most-vulnerable citizens — our seniors — as researchers have discovered. Forced to spend their days mostly alone behind closed doors, senior living residents have largely lost the actual in-person contact of their family and friends, which is vitally important to …
Although underwriting is more stringent than before the pandemic, lenders and investors are still showing a strong interest in seniors housing. By Jeff Shaw Seniors housing has clearly endured a rough ride as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But that doesn’t mean that investors, lenders, developers and owners don’t see value in it. “Value is the worth of all benefits arising from ownership,” said JP LoMonaco, president of Valuation & Information Group. “It is by nature a long-term concept. The value isn’t determined by benefits derived today or over …
Despite increased competition and delays in construction and lease-up due to COVID-19, developers remain bullish on the sector. By Jeff Shaw The relatively new segment of rental active adult housing has many developers interested, but hesitant. The sector targets baby boomers in early retirement who are often looking to downsize from their homes but are still years away from needing independent living or assisted living services. The concept is to offer relaxing, maintenance-free living to empty nesters who still lead active lives. It differs from independent living in that it …
REITs sell off portfolios while other investors pursue distressed assets amid record-low occupancy. By Jeff Shaw When the COVID-19 outbreak hit the U.S. with full force last March, investors in the seniors housing sector had some difficult decisions to make. With the occupancy rate at private-pay seniors housing falling to a record-low 80.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, the question that quickly arose in the marketplace was whether it was better to sell off properties, buy assets …
By Matt Valley Property valuations have decreased 5 to 10 percent overall across the seniors housing industry due to the operational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s the expert opinion of Imran Javaid, managing director of BMO Harris Bank, who says the percentage decline can vary depending on the age of the facility, the operator and the specific asset class. The respiratory virus, which as of Jan. 24 had claimed the lives of more than 417,000 people in the U.S. and ravaged a large swath of the economy, initially …
Building designers consider urban integration, sustainable features and even build in vacant parking lots to reflect the future trends of seniors housing. By Jeff Shaw As the seniors housing industry matures in all facets, architects are on the front lines of that evolution. After all, they are the ones who design the future properties before a single shovel hits the ground. We’ve heard for years about the possible incoming changes. Demand for urban locations will increase as baby boomers will want to live near the hustle and bustle of downtown …
Operators piece together creative solutions to one of the industry’s toughest problems — recruiting and retaining quality employees. By Jeff Shaw Recruiting and retaining quality employees on the front lines remains one of the biggest challenges facing the seniors housing industry today. Argentum estimates the senior living industry will need to fill 1.4 million positions by 2025. The employment landscape in the United States has drastically changed since early this year. The unemployment rate rose 440 basis points to 7.9 percent between September 2019 and September 2020, according to the …