Seniors Housing

High construction levels are tempering some of the enthusiasm in the seniors housing sector.

Later this month, a non-profit organization affiliated with Purchase plans to sell $14.5 million in unrated tax-exempt notes to begin development of a 385-unit retirement community.

The New York firm is buying 22 properties managed by Brookdale Senior Living Inc.

There have been pressures on the skilled nursing occupancy rate since 2011, notes Bill Kauffman, senior principal at NIC.

The REITs’ transition from an aggressive acquisition posture to a more disposition-anchored strategy comes against the backdrop of a decline in occupancy rates, a drop in rental rates and a volatile interest rate environment.

Today’s skilled nursing sector is in a period of dynamic change.

Green Street is projecting a risk-adjusted expected return rate of 6.9 percent for seniors housing.

Growth in the next five to 10 years may look a bit different than what we’ve witnessed in the last decade.

Essentially, “Welltower is buying skilled nursing assets on the cheap,” says Matt Kopsky, a REIT analyst at Edward Jones who covers Welltower.

In the first quarter, occupancy slid to 88.3 percent, a drop of 90 basis points year-over-year and 50 basis points from the fourth quarter of 2017.