Senior housing posted a positive total return of 2.08% in the second quarter of 2025, bringing year-to-date returns to 4.00%, the highest NCREIF property type return for the first half of the year.  

Senior housing in the second quarter outperformed the broader Expanded NCREIF Property Index (NPI) by 85 basis points, with the index posting a total return of 1.23%. Senior housing capital appreciation in the second quarter was positive with valuations increasing 0.72%. The capital appreciation return is the change in value net of any capital expenditures incurred during the quarter. Senior housing income return in the second quarter was also positive, yielding 1.36%. For the broader NPI in the second quarter, both capital appreciation (+0.04%) and income yield (+1.19%) were also positive.  

By senior housing property subtype, independent living (+2.15%) outperformed assisted living (+1.99%) in the second quarter. In recent years, independent living has also outperformed assisted living over the one-, three-, and five-year periods. This outperformance may be driven by higher margins typically generated in lower acuity settings such as independent living, which require less staffing and labor expenses than higher acuity settings such as assisted living. Additionally, independent living has had higher occupancy rates during this period. Over the longer run, since NCREIF began tracking returns data for these subtypes roughly a decade ago, both assisted living and independent living posted similar returns averaging more than 5.5% annually. 

Compared to other NCREIF property types over the 10-, 15-, and 20-year periods, senior housing was the strongest property type except for industrial and self-storage, outperforming the NPI on an annualized basis by 52, 41, and 297 basis points, respectively. Since the 2003 inception of NCREIF’s senior housing historical series, income yield drove roughly 60% of senior housing total returns, while price appreciation contributed roughly 40%. These performance measures reflect the returns of 211 senior housing properties valued at $12.38 billion in the second quarter. Overall, the number of senior housing properties tracked within the NPI has grown significantly from the 56 properties initially tracked in 2003.

Since Inception (2Q 2003)

10-Year (2Q 2015)

Senior housing market fundamentals remained positive in the second quarter, with the occupancy rate for the 31 NIC MAP Primary Markets increasing 0.8 percentage points to 88.1%, driven by net absorption of senior housing units outpacing the number of new units arriving online. Occupied units reached another record high in the second quarter, while year-over-year inventory growth fell below 1.0% for the first time since NIC MAP began tracking this data in 2006. By property type, occupancy rates for independent living have made slightly higher gains in recent quarters than assisted living, which is a reversal of trends in 2022 and 2023. In the second quarter, independent living increased to an average occupancy rate of 89.7%, while assisted living increased to 86.4%.

Source: NCREIF, 2Q 2025, Unlevered Annualized Total Returns

The NIC Analytics team presented findings during a webinar with NIC MAP clients on July 17, to review key senior housing data trends during the second quarter of 2025. Additionally, Mitch Brown, Principal at Senior Housing Consulting, Matt Pyzyk, Managing Director of Acquisitions at Green Courte Partners, and Ben Burke, Managing Partner at Headwaters Group, all members of NIC’s Active Adult Focus Area Committee, joined Caroline Clapp, Senior Principal at NIC, for a conversation on development pipelines, acquisition trends, transactions, and valuations for active adult rental communities.

Key takeaways included the following: 

Takeaway #1: Senior Housing Occupancy Rates Climb Above 88%; Active Adult Above 92%

• The senior housing occupancy rate for the 31 NIC MAP Primary Markets rose 0.8 percentage points to 88.1% in the second quarter, driven by robust net absorption in both independent living and assisted living.
• Active adult rental communities were 92.3% occupied as of the second quarter.

Takeaway #2: Baby Boomers Driving Demand for Independent Living and Active Adult

• By property type, occupancy rates for independent living have made slightly higher gains in recent quarters than assisted living, which is a reversal of trends in 2022 and 2023.
• Over the three quarters ending June 30, independent living occupancy rates gained 0.4 percentage points more than assisted living, potentially indicating a pickup in demand from older Baby Boomers, while above 90% occupancy rates in active adult rental communities reflect demand from younger Baby Boomers.

Takeaway #3: Senior Housing Inventory Growth Fell Below 1% for First Time 

• Annual inventory growth fell to 0.97% year-over-year, falling below 1% for the first time since NIC MAP began tracking this data in 2006.
• As a result of declining new construction in recent years, senior housing inventory is shrinking in several markets where property closures or units being converted to other uses outweigh the number of new communities or units replacing them.

Takeaway #4: Active Adult Rental Communities Offer a Wide Range of Pricing Typically Below Senior Housing

• Among the 15 largest active adult rental markets, most metro areas offer a wide range of pricing, while some of the more affordable markets have somewhat tighter rent ranges.
• Overall, even the highest priced markets with median average monthly rents of more than $3,000 are below traditional senior housing asking rents, providing an alternative for older adults who desire to downsize from their current homes but do not yet need or want the services and care provided in traditional independent living.

Learn the latest on the active adult property type and connect with others in the field at NIC’s Active Adult Boot Camp coming up September 10 in Austin, Texas. Registration is now open! Opportunities are also available in the NIC Academy Active Adult Communities specialty course, available on demand, and during the 2025 NIC Fall Conference.

Workforce challenges in senior housing and care are not simply operational hurdles but are long-term signals of broader shifts across the entire care economy. Both residents and staff are central to the success equation.

NIC recently kicked off a webinar series focused on one of the most pressing challenges facing the senior housing and care industry: the workforce.

As part of the first webinar, hosted on June 3^rd, NIC Analytics shared data-informed insights showing how workforce dynamics are changing in senior housing and skilled nursing. From shifts in employment across care settings to the projected need for hundreds of thousands of new direct care workers, the numbers tell a powerful story.

This article highlights the top takeaways from that session, insights that point not only to the scale of the challenge but to the opportunity to rethink job design, attract new talent, and build a more resilient workforce model for the decade ahead.

Key Takeaways:

• For the first time, assisted living has surpassed CCRCs and home health has overtaken skilled nursing in the total workforce of production and nonsupervisory employees. CCRCs and skilled nursing still have not returned to pre-pandemic workforce levels, while their adjacent counterparts have not only recovered but expanded.

• More than half of the workforce in the senior housing and skilled nursing sectors is made up of four care roles (care aides, nursing assistants, LPNs/LVNs, and RNs), making staffing models highly dependent on healthcare-specific roles.
• Senior housing and care competes with multiple sectors for the same talent but holds a smaller share of the national workforce. The top occupations in senior housing and nursing care are also in high demand in home health, individual and family services, and hospitals.
• Over 87% of these four care roles are women, and more than half are mothers with children under 18, highlighting the central role of family dynamics in staffing stability.
• There is a potential untapped opportunity to engage more men in caregiving roles. Given the decline in male workforce participation, senior housing and nursing care can design new pathways to attract and retain men in care roles, an underutilized labor pool in the space.
• Workforce demand is rising faster than population growth. While the U.S. population is projected to grow just 4% by 2033, the 75+ population and senior care resident base are expected to grow nearly 50%. By 2033, the U.S. will need 660,000 more workers in just four core roles – care aides, RNs, LPNs/LVNs, and nursing assistants – to meet projected senior housing and skilled nursing demand.

• While wages in senior housing and care have generally remained competitive with adjacent healthcare sectors, long-term workforce growth is not just about pay. However, rising wages, especially since 2021, have tightened margins especially for high acuity settings.
• Senior housing is well-positioned to lead. Compared to institutional healthcare, senior housing has more flexibility to pilot new scheduling models, part-time pathways, or hybrid roles, appealing to caregivers, mothers, men, and older workers.
• Automation is not a full solution, but it is part of the answer. AI and technology cannot replace hands-on care, but they can improve efficiency, reduce burnout, and allow staff to focus on residents, not paperwork.
• The future will not be built on higher pay alone, it will be built on better work. The opportunity ahead is not just to compete for talent, but to redefine what it means to build and belong to a senior housing and care workforce, invest in fast-track training pipelines, and create the kinds of jobs people want to stay in.

Thanks again to everyone who joined the webinar, and to my fellow speakers – Lisa McCracken, Head of Research & Analytics, NIC, Dana Ritchie, Associate Vice President, AHCA/NCAL, Ashante Abubakar, Vice President of Workforce Development, Argentum – for a great discussion.

Watch the full webinar replay here. Download the slide deck here for more insights and data.

This article is the eighth in a series showcasing parent/child dynamics across the senior housing and care industry. My conversation with father and son duo Keven Bennema, CEO & Co-Founder, and Zack Bennema, Senior Financial Analyst, Charter Senior Living, explores how our industry has become a family affair.

Tell us about yourself and your work.

Keven Bennema: I’ve been in the senior housing space for 30 years starting in 1993 when I was a caregiver. After being out of college for a year, I wound up being reintroduced to a family member who I hadn’t seen since I was a toddler. He was a pioneer in the senior living space in northwest Ohio, running a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed memory care unit and long-term acute hospital. At the time, his projects were at the cutting-edge, offering levels of care that were not common in those days.

During my time with him, I got married, started having kids and really learned the nursing home business from the ground up. It was an amazing experience seeing every aspect that goes into a long-term care setting with some very innovative product lines. Walking into a family business making $10 an hour was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

Next, I served as executive director for Marriott Senior Living in Naples, Florida for about a year and a half. I was then hired by Somerville Senior Living 2001 to be a regional director of operations where I remained for five and a half years. There I became familiar with the financial side, site selection, and how deals get structured. In 2007, I joined Senior Lifestyle Corporation in Chicago as COO. Those nine years were really my springboard to launching Charter Senior Living, which I cofounded with my wife in March 2016.

We wanted to create something unique, so we developed a completely decentralized office with a corporate structure that outsourced all back of house support. It was an innovative model in 2016. By not having a corporate office, we end up spending more time in our communities. Charter’s mission is to enhance the human spirit. We believe that if we take care of our people, they will take better care of our residents.

When COVID-19 hit, we were validated because we already had remote work going strong. That’s when we really started to grow. Today, we have 64 communities. Several companies have since used our back-of-house model.

Zack Bennema: I’m the middle child. I played quarterback at Baylor University for four years. When I graduated in 2019, the stars aligned for me to join Charter and help with their finance needs. Coming out of college, I was not eager to work at my family company and had plans to leverage my football connections instead. But in the end, I couldn’t be happier with my decision to move back to Chicago and work as a financial analyst at Charter. COVID hit nine months later, so I was especially grateful to already be working from home. Now, as a senior financial analyst, it’s been a breath of fresh air to watch our team grow.

How do you keep separation between church and state?

Keven: All three of our kids have been involved in the business. Their growth has been amazing to watch. It really was up until last year that Zack, and to a certain extent my older son Jake, were doing the budgets, KPIs, and other financial work critical to the company. It’s a huge credit to them for the things they were able to accomplish with so little manpower. As we took on more development, we expanded and grew their teams.

Family time is critical when you’re running a business, but family can’t just be about work, so we end up seeing our kids a lot.

Zack: We talked pretty much every day in the first few years, but we have a strong relationship outside of work that doesn’t revolve around work. During COVID I stayed with my parents in Florida for nine months, which was a great opportunity to balance work and life. Now that I have a team, I have less daily communication with my dad for work, which is probably a good thing.

Overall, it’s been a blessing to work for the family business. Having my dad as a mentor and leader and watching him grow over the last five years has been special. Generally, I’ve found that when you’re working for your family business you have a lot more pride in what you do. Culture at our company is the real deal. Our mission is to enhance the human spirit. We mean it and go out and do it.

What advice do you have for the generation before us?

Zack: Conduct business rooted in trust and integrity. Everyone looks to their leader to be reliable. People should believe the things a leader tells them. When you are good-hearted, that runs through the business. Be who you are and exemplify what it means to be a positive model for the younger generation.

What advice do you have for the next generation or those thinking about joining the industry?

Keven: I grew up on the south side of Chicago. My family was always very loving but ultimately the key qualities they instilled in me were humility, appreciation, and work ethic. There were a lot of advantages to growing up in an environment where there wasn’t a lot of money lying around. I learned the benefits of hard work and ultimately goal orientation. That’s where my inner motivation to be a leader was seeded.

When I think about what motivates young people these days, I think about the phrase ‘people care what you know, when they know that you care.’ Charter cares greatly about culture. Not having a corporate office allows us to stay very connected to our people. It’s important to be in our communities with our associates and senior teams learning about people and getting to know them. I would pass this insight on to the next generation— you must show up as a leader and model behavior.

Titles are all well and good, but at Charter we come together as one big team. We’re passionate and driven by how we treat each other, and that ultimately has a positive impact on how residents are cared for in our community. 

*Interviews edited for length

Prepare to elevate your insights and strategy at the upcoming 2025 NIC Fall Conference in Austin, Texas, September 8-10. This event will bring together the industry’s most influential voices to unpack the most critical topics impacting the sector, while building relationships and driving innovation in an evolving market. 

By the Numbers 

NIC continues to raise the bar in convening senior-level executives: 

• 70%+ of registered attendees are C-suite or VP-level decision-makers 
• 12% growth in attendance over last fall’s conference (YTD) 
• 700+ unique companies are sending key influencers to Austin 

Key Takeaways 

• Powerful Networking 

Whether you’re a capital provider, developer, operator, or product and service provider, NIC creates the space to connect with the right people—all in one place. The scale and caliber of attendees makes it a premier environment for sparking high-value conversations and building long-term relationships. 

• Insightful Learning 

Hear directly from leading experts on the trends shaping the future of the sector—from demographic shifts and capital flow dynamics to new models of care and service delivery. 

• Real-Time Deal-Making 

Looking to raise capital, source new partners, or expand into new markets? NIC is where business gets done. Countless introductions and strategic conversations happen during ‘The NIC’s’ expansive networking opportunities, setting the foundation for growth and innovation. 

Data-Driven Decision-Making in Focus 

NIC is known for delivering data, analytics, and insights that drive smart decision-making. This year’s Innovation Labs and Signature Sessions will spotlight the tools and technologies reshaping how leaders approach growth, performance, and value creation. Below are a few featured sessions that can help you make better data-driven decisions. 

Data-Driven Insights for Faster, Smarter Decision-Making (Innovation Lab) 

Real-time analytics and predictive modeling are giving senior housing operators a competitive edge—helping them deliver better outcomes while meeting investor expectations. Learn how operators are implementing integrated data strategies that enable swift decisions and meaningful results. 

Speakers: 

• Susan Barlow, Co-Founder & COO, Blue Moon Capital Partners LP 
• Holly Belter-Chesser, CEO, Atria Senior Living 
• Morgan Graphman, Director of Business Intelligence, Ascent Living Communities 

Real-World AI Solutions for Smarter Decisions (Innovation Lab) 
AI is no longer optional—it’s a strategic imperative. This session explores how operators are deploying AI to streamline operations, reduce admin burden, and improve decision-making across their organizations. 

Speakers: 

• Joel Rosenberg, VP of Data and Analytics, LCS 
• Joe Velderman, Chief Strategy Officer at K4Connect 
• Michael Pittore, Co-CEO, Agemark 

Capital Markets & Valuations (Signature Session) 
A conference favorite, this high-profile session brings together leading voices from across the capital landscape to analyze current conditions, deal activity, and the outlook for investment in senior housing. 

Moderator: 

• Ben Firestone, CEO, Blueprint Healthcare Real Estate Advisors 

Panelists: 

• Matthew P. Gourmand, President, Omega Healthcare Investors 
• Morgin Morris, SVP, KeyBank 
• Curt Shaller, Co-Managing Partner, Focus Healthcare Partners LLC 

With sessions that dive deep into economic forecasting, capital strategies, AI, and data-driven performance, the NIC Fall Conference delivers the knowledge and connections that drive real results.  

View the full program here.  

Whether you’re navigating today’s challenges or preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities, there’s no better place to align your strategy with where the industry is headed.  

Don’t miss your opportunity to engage with senior housing’s most forward-thinking leaders and gain the insights you need to move your organization forward. 

Secure Your Spot Today