Brentwood, TN-based Brookdale Senior Living wrapped up November with its 25th consecutive month of year-over-year weighted average occupancy growth, the company reported Friday.
The company said that November’s weighted average occupancy, 78.4%, was an increase of 40 basis points year over year.
Month over month from October to November, weighted occupancy dipped slightly, from 78.6% to 78.4%. Brookdale noted, however, that third-quarter occupancy was 77.6%, compared with the second quarter, which saw 76.5% average weighted occupancy.
“Compared to October 2023, November move-ins and move-outs were favorable sequentially,” the company said.
During a third-quarter earnings call last month, Brookdale President and CEO Lucinda “Cindy” Baier said that the senior living operator’s results are an outcome of its intentional, experience-driven plans, the successful execution of its sales and marketing strategy and a dedication to its mission.
Baier said at the time that those results show that Brookdale’s continued progress toward its full operational recovery from the pandemic. She added that she expected to see continued occupancy growth into 2024 based on supply-demand dynamics.
The most recent NIC MAP Vision Intra-Quarterly Snapshot, released last month, revealed uneven recovery of senior living (independent living and assisted living combined) occupancy recovery from August to September. Some markets had achieved full recovery, whereas others still were working toward returning to pre-pandemic levels.
The all-occupancy rate for senior living in the 31 NIC MAP primary markets followed by NIC MAP increased to 84.9% from September to October. That’s two percentage points below the March 2020 pre-pandemic level of 87.1%. The all-occupancy rate for the second markets (86.7%) bounced back more quickly and had fully recovered at only 0.1 percentage point below the march 2020 benchmark level.
Brookdale operated and managed 672 communities in 41 states as of Sept. 30. It is the largest operator and third-largest owner of US senior living communities, according to the 2023 ASHA 50 list from the American Seniors Housing Association. Brookdale also made Argentum’s 2023 list of largest providers, landing at No. 1 based on total units and also topping separate lists of assisted living providers and memory care providers.
