Strong demand is providing a positive outlook for senior living as occupancy levels returned to — or even exceeded — pre-pandemic levels last month, according to just-released NIC MAP Vision data.
NIC MAP Vision released intra-quarterly data showing that the senior housing all-occupancy rate for its primary markets increased to 83.5% in April — up 0.3 percentage points from the March reporting period and an increase of 5.7 percentage points from a low of 77.8% in June 2021, according to a blog post from NIC Principal Omar Zahraoui.
This positive trend was supported by responses to NIC’s Executive Survey from April when 52% of operators reported an acceleration in the pace of move-ins, the highest amount since April 2022, when 54% or organizations reported an acceleration in move-ins.
The all-occupancy rate for majority assisted living properties in NIC MAP primary markets was up 0.5 percentage points to 81.7% and is now 2.8 percentage points below March 2020 levels. In independent living, properties in the primary markets edged up 0.1 percentage points from the March reporting period but remained 4.4 percentage points below March 2020 levels.
Despite the faster improvement in assisted living, the overall occupancy rate remains below that of independent living.
Assisted living occupancy increased by 7.8 percentage points from its June 2021 pandemic low, recovering relatively fast compared with independent living despite the “relatively large” inventory growth since the onset of the pandemic. Independent living occupancy increased 3.6 percentage points since June 2021.
Occupancy for assisted living experienced a relatively faster recovery compared with independent living despite a relatively large inventory growth since the onset of the pandemic. But in the past 12 months, assisted living inventory dipped below that of independent living.
The inventory of independent living and assisted living for NIC MAP primary markets increased by 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively, from April levels.
Across select metropolitan markets, 11 of the 31 NIC MAP primary markets saw assisted living occupancy rates either return to pre-pandemic levels or exceed them, with some markets within less than 1 percentage point of returning to March 2020 levels. In addition, 20 of the 31 primary markets experienced assisted living occupancy rates above 80% in April.
Assisted living properties in Dallas surpassed their overall pre-pandemic occupancy level by 2.9 percentage points, whereas Kansas City topped its March 2020 levels by 1.9 percentage points. Other markets showing notable assisted living occupancy recovery were Phoenix, Orlando; Denver; Detroit; Tampa, FL; Cleveland; Atlanta; San Antonio; and Portland, OR.
For independent living, only four of the primary markets returned to or exceeded pre-pandemic occupancy levels. San Antonio reached 1.8 percentage points above March 2020 occupancy levels, whereas Pittsburgh was at 0.6 percentage points above pre-pandemic levels.
Zahraoui pointed out that it is important to note that all independent living markets are at occupancy rates above 80%, ranging from 80.1% in Houston to 93.4% in Boston.
“This highlights the overall resilience and strength of independent living, even amidst varying levels of recovery,” he said.
