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NIC Notes

Insights in Seniors Housing & Care

By: Beth Mace  |  March 09, 2017

Seniors Housing Actual Rates Report Shows Larger Discounts for Assisted Living than for Independent Living Properties

Market Trends  |  Senior Housing  |  Workforce

The NIC Map Data Service recently released national benchmark data through year-end 2016 for actual rates and leasing velocity.  Key takeaways include:

  • Average initial rates were below average asking rates for both independent living and assisted living properties, with monthly spreads larger for assisted living properties throughout the entire reported period.

  • As of December 2016, assisted living initial rates averaged 10.7% below the average asking rate, which equates on an annualized basis to an average initial rate discount equivalent to nearly 1.3 months. The discount for independent living was smaller at less than half a month rent.
  • Average initial rates for independent living properties have been trending higher for the past 12 months, and in December, were 2.9% above year-earlier levels. This was more than the 2.5% increase seen in average asking rates for independent living. While assisted living average asking rates also continued to climb, average initial rates for assisted living were 1.2% below year-earlier levels.
  • Average in-place rates exceeded average initial rates for assisted living in every month of the past year, and were 6.2% higher on average. In-place rates were also higher on average for independent living properties, but the differences were smaller than for assisted living at 2.0% for the past twelve months.
  • The pace of move-outs continues to be greater for assisted living than independent living. This demonstrates that resident turnover continues to be greater within assisted living properties than independent living properties. Move-outs have exceeded move-ins for six of the past twelve months for assisted living and five months for independent living.

The NIC MAP Seniors Housing Actual Rates Report provides national data from approximately 250,000 units within more than 2,500 properties across the U.S. operated by 15 to 20 seniors housing providers. This monthly time series is comprised of end-of-month data for each respective month.

About Beth Mace

Beth Burnham Mace is a special advisor to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) focused exclusively on monitoring and reporting changes in capital markets impacting senior housing and care investments and operations. Mace served as Chief Economist and Director of Research and Analytics during her nine-year tenure on NIC’s leadership team. Before joining the NIC staff in 2014, Mace served on the NIC Board of Directors and chaired its Research Committee. She was also a director at AEW Capital Management and worked in the AEW Research Group for 17 years. Prior to joining AEW, Mace spent 10 years at Standard & Poor’s DRI/McGraw-Hill as director of its Regional Information Service. She also worked as a regional economist at Crocker Bank, and for the National Commission on Air Quality, the Brookings Institution, and Boston Edison. Mace is currently a member of the Institutional Real Estate Americas Editorial Advisory Board. In 2020, Mace was inducted into the McKnight’s Women of Distinction Hall of Honor. 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. Mace earned an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s degree from the University of California. She also earned a Certified Business Economist™ designation from the National Association of Business Economists.

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