All-occupancy rates are up across senior living, but assisted living occupancy appears to be recovering more quickly than independent living, according to new data from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care.
For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the all-occupancy rate for senior living (independent living and assisted living) increased or remained stable across all NIC MAP primary markets in the April reporting period on a three-month rolling basis. According to the NIC Intra-Quarterly Snapshot released Thursday, the all-occupancy rate for senior housing for the 31 NIC MAP primary markets increased to 81.1% in the April reporting period, up 0.6 percentage points from the March reporting period.
“All-occupancy for AL [assisted living] has been recovering at a much faster pace compared with IL [independent living],” according to NIC Chief Economist Beth Mace. “At 83.6%, the all-occupancy rate for majority independent living properties was up 0.5 percentage points from March 2022. For majority assisted living properties, the all-occupancy rate was up 0.7 percentage point to 78.5%.”
Since June 2021, she noted, assisted living occupancy has increased by 4.3 percentage points, 2.4 percentage points more than independent living, which has increased 1.9 percentage points since June 2021.
NIC also reported that the all-occupancy rate increased or remained stable in each of the 31 primary markets in April. At 75.4%, Las Vegas’s occupancy saw the largest increase, up 2.1 percentage points from March (6.3 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels), and New York stayed even at 80.6% on a three-month rolling basis (8.1 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels).
The all-occupancy rate for independent living increased or remained stable in 27 of the 31 primary markets in the same reporting period. At 79.6%, Sacramento led with an increase of
3.2 percentage points from the prior month (11.2 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels, and Cincinnati’s independent living occupancy fell by 0.4 percentage points to 82.8% (7.5 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels).
