Brookdale Senior Living marked its 35th consecutive month of year-over-year average occupancy growth in September, the Brentwood, TN-based senior living community owner and operator reported Tuesday in a monthly occupancy report.
Weighted average occupancy at the country’s largest senior living company increased 30 basis points to 79.2% from August to September, and month-end occupancy grew to 80.5% in September.
In addition, third-quarter weighted average occupancy increased 80 basis points to 78.9% from the second quarter (78.1%) and was up 130 basis points from the same quarter in 2023 (77.6%).
Third-quarter move-ins and move-outs also were favorable, according to the company.
Tao Qiu, a senior healthcare equity research analyst at investment banking and financial services group Macquarie, said that Brookdale’s third-quarter average occupancy was slightly short of expectations and that the flat month-end numbers compared with August month-end numbers “indicates weaker momentum” going into the fourth quarter compared with prior years. But an 80-basis-point quarterly gain “still trumped” the 50-basis-point average growth prior to the pandemic, indicating better supply demand dynamics, he said.
“While the softer occupancy print takes some shine off organic growth near term, we believe Brookdale — the largest industry operator — stands to benefit from healthy senior housing fundamentals,” Qiu said, adding that with its multi-year occupancy and margin recovery intact, the company is on a “path of sustainable growth.”
During a second-quarter earnings call in August, President and CEO Lucinda “Cindy” Baier said that Brookdale had demonstrated “powerful positive progress” toward full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Dawn Kussow said she expected third-quarter occupancy to provide “meaningful” improvement, reflecting the company’s confidence in its community sales leaders, the anticipated effects of targeted sales and marketing initiatives, and continued benefit from growing demand.
Brookdale operated and managed 648 senior living communities in 41 states as of Sept. 30.
It topped the 2024 American Seniors Housing Association’s list of the 50 largest senior living operators and was No. 3 on the list of largest owners. Brookdale also topped Argentum’s overall list of the 150 largest providers for 2024.
And it’s about to get even bigger. The company announced last month that it will acquire 41 communities involving 2,789 units in privately negotiated off-market deals. Once the deals close, Brookdale will own 66% of its consolidated units, aligning with its goal of increasing the size of its owned real estate portfolio.
