Nursing care occupancy rates fell again during the first quarter of 2018 according to data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC).
The occupancy rate for nursing care decreased to 86.2% in Q2, down from 86.5% in the first quarter of this year.
One of the bright spots in the data was private pay rents, which grew 2.4% year over year this quarter, but were still down 0.3 percentage points from year-earlier levels.
The seniors housing space is also suffering, as new inventory brought occupancy numbers to 87.9% during the quarter, the lowest in 8 years.
“The seniors housing occupancy rate has trended downward over the past 10 quarters, which is only two quarters short of its 12-quarter downturn during the Great Recession,” said Chuck Harry, chief of research and analytics at NIC in a statement. “Although annual absorption has averaged a solid 2.4% during this 10-quarter downturn to date, the total number of seniors housing units absorbed amounts to only 63% of the significant and sustained inventory growth during this same period.”
“Nursing care” refers to the services provided by a unit, and as a result could include units in facilities that don’t solely provide skilled nursing servicing, such as a continuing care retirement community. Occupancy in the skilled nursing sector has been continued to decline, with NIC’s most recent numbers pegging occupancy at 81.6% in the first quarter of 2018.
Written by John Yedinak
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