Beth Burnham Mace is the Chief Economist and Director of Outreach at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). Prior to joining the staff at NIC, she served as a member of the NIC Board of Directors for 7 years and chaired NIC’s Research Committee. Ms. Mace was also a Director at AEW Capital Management and worked in the AEW Research Group for 17 years. While at AEW, Ms. Mace provided primary research support to the organization’s core and value-added investment strategies and provided research-related underwriting in acquisition activity and asset and portfolio management decisions. Prior to joining AEW in 1997, Ms. Mace spent ten years at Standard & Poor’s DRI/McGraw-Hill as the Director of the Regional Information Service with responsibility for developing forecasts of economic, demographic, and industry indicators for 314 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. Prior to working at DRI, she spent three years as a Regional Economist at the Crocker Bank in San Francisco. Ms. Mace has also worked at the National Commission on Air Quality, the Brookings Institution and Boston Edison. Ms. Mace is a member of the National Association of Business Economists (NABE), ULI’s Senior Housing Council, the Urban Land Institute and New England Women in Real Estate (NEWIRE/CREW). In 2014, she was appointed a fellow at the Homer Hoyt Institute and was awarded the title of a “Woman of Influence” in commercial real estate by Real Estate Forum Magazine and Globe Street. Ms. Mace is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College (B.A.) and the University of California (M.S.). She has also earned The Certified Business Economist™ (CBE), which is the certification in business economics and data analytics developed by NABE. The CBE documents a professional’s accomplishment, experience, abilities, and demonstrates mastery of the body of knowledge critical in the field of economics and data analytics.
Business Environment | Economic Trends | Workforce
By: Beth Mace | March 10, 2023
The unemployment rate reversed course and rose to 3.6% in February from 3.4% in January, which was its lowest level since 1969. Separately, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 311,000 in February 2023, below the monthly pace of 343,000 over the prior six months, but still strong. Market expectations had called for a gain of less than 225,000 jobs. Revisions subtracted 34,000 positions to total payrolls in the previous two months.
Economic Trends | Ideas and Discussion | Market Trends | occupancy
By: Beth Mace | February 21, 2023
It’s a tale of two markets and many influencing factors as we move further into 2023. The capital markets remain hostage to the Federal Reserve which continues its course of tighter monetary policy and higher interest rates. Most pundits believe this will continue through mid-year 2023 until tangible evidence emerges of decelerating inflation, and in particular service inflation. Meanwhile, market fundamentals continue to improve for senior housing, with rising occupancy rates, strong demand patterns, and limited, albeit on-going, inventory growth.
Business Environment | Economic Trends | Workforce
By: Beth Mace | February 03, 2023
The unemployment rate fell to 3.4% in January, its lowest level since 1969 and below December’s already low rate of 3.5%. Separately, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by a very large 517,000 in January 2023, nearly twice as much as in December (260,000) and more than the monthly average of 401,000 in 2022. Market expectations had called for a gain of less than 200,000 jobs. Revisions added 71,000 positions to total payrolls in the previous two months. The monthly gain and revisions paint an image of a still strong labor market.
Actual Rates | Business Environment | NIC MAP Vision
By: Beth Mace | January 04, 2023
Data from the recently released 3Q2022 NIC MAP Vision Actual Rates Report showed growth for asking rates remained high on a year-over-year basis for all three care segments (independent living, assisted living, and memory care) for the data contributors to this data collection. In the recently released report, monthly data of actual rates and leasing velocity are presented through September 2022, including data on rate discounting and move-in/move-out trends. Key takeaways from the report, specifically from the Segment Type report, are presented below. Care segments refer to the levels of care and services provided to a resident living in an assisted living, memory care or independent living unit.