NIC MAP shows modest recovery in seniors housing

First quarter 2012 results show a modest recovery in the national seniors housing occupancy rate, while there was a slowing of construction and rent growth, reports NIC MAP, a data analysis service of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC).

Data indicate growth in the occupancy rate of 0.2 percentage points higher than in 4Q11 and a 0.8 percentage point from a year earlier. NIC MAP Vice President Michael Hargrave said, “With occupancy continuing to rise, it appears the pace of recovery remains slow, but steady.”

While there has been growth in occupancy, annual rent growth has slowed 0.4 percentage points. NIC’s Director of Research and Analysis Chuck Harry suggested that this speaks to the challenges that some operators have met in attempts to achieve rental rate increases.

In the seniors housing markets there was a slight increase in annual absorption and a decrease in construction, while annual inventory growth stayed the same as 4Q11.