Senior Housing: Between Interest Rates and the Silver Tsunami

Timothy Fox said, “What the consumer wants has changed. The product from 10 years ago is not what we will need five years from now.”

SAN DIEGO—Rising interest rates are creating a feeling of racing against time for senior-housing developers and investors, yet with most of the large wave of Baby Boomers still too young to consider living in senior housing, investors and lenders are cautious, speakers at NIC’s Spring Investment Forum said Wednesday. In the panel session, “The Economy in 2017 and its Impact on Seniors Housing & Care,” a panel of experts addressed the economic issues affecting this sector.

Moderator Beth Mace, chief economist for NIC, gave an overview of the national economy and its broad impact on senior housing. She said after the recession, the labor markets did not hit a new peak until 2014, and while we had 227,000 jobs gained in February, the labor-force participation rate is weak at 63%, and as much as 9% of the population is either discouraged or not fully employed.