The NIC MAP® Data Service, powered by NIC MAP Vision, recently released national monthly data through March 2021 for actual rates and leasing velocity. In this release, NIC MAP also provided data on three metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.
A few key takeaways from the 1Q2021 NIC MAP® Seniors Housing Actual Rates Report are listed below. These key takeaways are from the Segment Type report. Care segments refer to the levels of care and services provided to a resident living in an assisted living, memory care or independent living unit. Full access to the reports and other takeaways is available to NIC MAP Vision clients with access to NIC MAP Data.
- For the first time since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, the pace of move-ins exceeded the pace of move-outs for both the independent living and the assisted living care segments in March 2021.Since March 2020, voluntary or mandated move-in moratoriums had often been in place for many operators as they tried to prevent the spread of infection in their properties. For the memory care segment, move-ins also exceeded move-outs in March 2021, but the 12-month pattern was less consistent than for AL and IL.
- Average initial rates for residents moving into independent living, assisted living and memory care segments were below average asking rates, with monthly spreads generally largest for assisted living.
- The average discount for all three care segments was between 0.9 and 1.0 month in the January-March reporting periods. With the exception of the memory care segment, these discounts are higher than the discounting that occurred during the pre-pandemic period in the first quarter of 2020.
- As of March 2021, initial rates for memory care units averaged 8.0% ($527) below average asking rates. This equates to an average initial rate discount of 1.0 month on an annualized basis, down from 1.2 months one year earlier.
- Average in-place rates for residents in assisted living and memory care segments were below average asking rates. The discount was smaller for in-place rates than initial rates compared with asking rates.
- For the assisted living segment, average in-place rates were consistently below average asking rates since reporting began in January 2017. However, the monthly gap between these two rates was narrower during the first quarter, dropping to a mere 0.2% difference (or $11) in January 2021 and only rising to 0.6% in March 2021.
The Actual Rates Data Initiative is driven by the need to continually increase transparency in the seniors housing sector and achieve greater parity to data that is available in other real estate asset types. Now, more than ever, in the world of the COVID-19 pandemic, having access to accurate data on the actual monthly rates that a seniors housing resident pays as compared to property level asking rates helps the sector achieve this goal.
About the Report
The NIC MAP® Seniors Housing Actual Rates Report provides aggregate national data from approximately 300,000 units within more than 2,600 properties across the U.S. operated by 25 to 30 seniors housing providers. The operators included in the current sample tend to be larger, professionally managed, and investment-grade operators as we currently require participating operators to manage five or more properties. Note that this monthly time series is comprised of end-of-month data for each respective month.
While these trends are certainly interesting aggregated across the states, actual rates data is even more useful at the metro level. NIC MAP Vision is continuing to work towards reporting more markets.
Interested in Participating?
The Actual Rates Data Initiative is an effort to expand seniors housing data and we are looking for operators who have five or more properties to participate. We have expertise in extracting data from industry leading software systems, such as Yardi, PointClickCare, Alis and MatrixCare, and can facilitate the process for you.
Your organization benefits through:
- More informed benchmarking, strategic planning, and day-to-day business operations,
- Increased transparency, aligning with other commercial real estate assets in terms of data availability, and
- Enhanced investment and efficiency across the sector.
Learn more about participating in the Actual Rates Data Initiative by visiting nic.org/actual-rates.
Interested in learning more about NIC MAP data?
To learn more about NIC MAP data, powered by NIC MAP Vision, and about accessing the data featured in this article, schedule a meeting with a product expert today.