News & Press Releases
Senior Housing Occupancy Drops in First Full Month of COVID-19 Pandemic
New Intra-Quarterly data from the NIC MAP® Data Service shows larger occupancy impact on skilled nursing than on senior housing sector
ANNAPOLIS (May 19, 2020)—The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) today released data from its NIC MAP® Data Service showing declining occupancy in senior housing properties in April, the first full month of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Senior housing occupancy experienced a 1.1 percentage point decrease to 88.7 percent, while nursing care facility occupancy was down 2.2 percentage points to 84.7 percent.
The data is featured in NIC’s Intra-Quarterly Snapshot, a new monthly publication developed from NIC MAP® data to increase transparency about senior housing and care during an unprecedented time for the sector. Increased frequency of NIC MAP® data reporting provides information about property stabilized occupancy rates that contribute to efforts to provide transparency, allowing stakeholders to protect elderly residents and frontline caregivers by helping properties, states and communities better understand the impact of COVID-19 and marshal resources to those most in need.
“Challenges in senior housing and care properties require timely, credible data,” said Brian Jurutka, NIC’s president and CEO. “Actionable data is the foundation to inform stakeholders in developing solutions that protect residents and caregivers.”
In addition to the latest senior housing and skilled nursing property occupancy data, NIC’s Intra-Quarterly Snapshot shows the percentage change in stabilized occupancy in both property types during the past 13 months, provides key takeaways from NIC’s chief economist Beth Burnham Mace, and puts the data in context with broader economic indicators, such as national unemployment, consumer sentiment and the S&P 500.
“Some of the sharp decline in skilled nursing occupancy is likely driven by fewer hospitals discharging patients to post-acute care settings for rehabilitative therapy as hospitals defer elective surgeries due to the pandemic,” said Mace. She also explained that the drop in stabilized occupancy identifies the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing operators without the impact of new competition on market conditions.
NIC intends to expand its NIC MAP® occupancy data set for clients to include additional metrics, metro-level data, and property type cuts later this Summer. Select data will continue to be summarized in the NIC’s Intra-Quarterly Snapshot with each data release.
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Contact: Sarah Schmidt at SSchmidt@MessagePartnersPR.com or 860-227-8216.
About the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care
The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) is a 501(c)3 organization established in 1991 whose mission is to enable access and choice by providing data, analytics, and connections that bring together investors and providers in independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and post-acute care. Through its industry-leading annual conferences; NIC MAP® Data Service; and research, analytics and sector outreach, NIC serves as an indispensable resource for the senior housing and care sector. The NIC MAP Data Service contains reliable and objective time-series data that capital providers, investors, operators and developers depend upon to make informed investment decisions.
For more information, visit www.nic.org, www.nic.org/nic-map and follow NIC on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.