Seniors Housing Construction Trends Report 2011 Available at 21st Annual NIC Conference

Annapolis, Md. – The Seniors Housing Construction Trends Report 2011 is now available. Produced jointly by the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC) and the American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA), this annual report confirms that, while seniors housing and care construction starts in the nation’s top 100 metro markets have increased over the prior year’s cyclical low, the total number of units under construction has remained relatively flat year-over-year.

For majority independent living (IL) properties, the number of units under construction in the top 100 metropolitan markets was 7,936 as of March 31, 2011, down from 8,887 the year prior. For majority assisted living (AL) properties, there were 6,177 units under construction, up slightly from 5,974 the year prior, and for majority nursing care (NC) properties, the number of units under construction as of March 31, 2011 was 5,972, up slightly from 5,582 last year.

The report shows the number of units started during the 12 months ending March 31, 2011 in majority IL properties was 5,047, up from 3,979 during the prior 12 months. Majority AL properties had 4,881 units started, compared to 3,035 during the prior 12 months, and majority NC properties had 5,014 units started, up from 2,628 during the prior 12 months. Although these numbers are higher year-over-year, the level of starts remains well below the most recent cyclical high of 2008.

This highly anticipated publication shows a comprehensive overview of current construction activity for seniors housing and care properties as of March 31, 2011. “The Seniors Housing Construction Trends Report provides a macro-perspective of the units and properties in our sector under construction or which started construction within the largest 100 metropolitan markets,” said David Schless, president of ASHA. “These markets account for nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population of seniors who are 75 years or older.”

An overview of construction activity is provided for properties classified as senior apartments, majority independent living, majority assisted living and majority nursing care. Memory care is found under majority assisted living and a separate section on continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) is included. Only properties containing 25 or more units/beds are tracked for purposes of the report.

Data is based on counts from the NIC MAP Data & Analysis Service, the leading provider of key operating statistics for the seniors housing and care industry, and verified with data gathered from multiple sources, including McGraw-Hill Construction. In addition, all counts were confirmed by phone calls to the respective developer or operator and through analysis of newspaper articles around the country.

“The findings in this year’s report are consistent with the continued lack of construction financing available to our sector, although we do see financing beginning to loosen up somewhat,” said Robert Kramer, president of NIC. “We’re starting to see regional banks, traditionally the main source of construction financing for seniors housing and care, become more active, though levels are far from what the sector experienced prior to the recession. There were 14,942 seniors housing & care (IL/AL/NC) units started this past year, down from pre-recession levels of 23,685 units started in the period of April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008, representing a 36.9% decrease.”

“Despite an uptick in the number of construction starts, the trailing twelve month starts as a percentage of existing inventory, at 1.1%, is below the current pace of annual absorption (i.e. the change in the number of occupied units from a year ago), at 1.6%,” added Charles Harry, director of research and analysis at NIC. “This suggests there will be some upward pressure on occupancies going forward.”

The report contains useful information on construction activity in the seniors housing and care market including:

• Total units/beds under construction by property type,
• Total properties and expansions under construction by property type,
• Total units/beds and properties started in the past year,
• The distribution of existing inventory by year opened for each property type dating back to 1985,
• Summary of construction activity compared to existing supply.

One of the most widely-referenced sections of the report is the metropolitan market rankings by the net growth in inventory over the previous five-year period,” pointed out Kramer. “This year’s report shows that Chicago has seen over the five years a net increase in its assisted living inventory of 43.1%, the largest percentage increase among the nation’s top ten seniors housing and care markets. Dallas and Boston have seen the largest net increases in independent living inventory, with increases of 28.2% and 27.6% respectively. Investors and developers can use these insights on construction trends when planning their development strategies.”

The “Seniors Housing Construction Trends Report 2011” is available for $150. For more information, visit www.NIC.org Or www.seniorshousing.org. Or, call NIC at (410) 267-0504 or ASHA at (202) 237-0900.

About NIC

For 20 years, the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC) has been committed to advancing the quality of seniors housing and care by facilitating informed investment decisions for investors, lenders, owners, operators and developers through groundbreaking research, actionable data and dealmaking events. NIC is the leading provider of historical and trend data on the industry through its NIC MAP® Data and Analysis Service that tracks more than 12,000 properties on a quarterly basis in the 100 largest metropolitan markets. Proceeds from its annual conference and other events are used to fund data and research on issues of importance to lenders, investors, developers, operators, and others interested in meeting the housing and care needs of America’s seniors. For more information, visit www.NIC.org or call (410) 267-0504.