Yardi, NIC to Launch Initiative to Benchmark Senior Living Rates
In what the firms describe as a first of its kind service, the goal is to compile actual senior housing rates and leasing activity submitted by senior living operators.
SANTA BARBARA, CA—Software developer Yardi is teaming up with non-profit Annapolis, MD-based National Investment Center for Senior Housing & Care to launch a “Senior Housing Actual Rates Initiative” geared at increasing the amount of available data on rates and pricing of senior living units nationwide.
In what the firms describe as a first of its kind service, the goal is to compile actual senior housing rates and leasing activity submitted by senior living operators.
“NIC is so pleased that Yardi has partnered with us to become certified as a NIC Actual Rates Software Partner. This designation signifies the commitment Yardi has made to support this initiative, which is so important to the sector,” says Brian Jurutka, president and CEO of NIC. “By incorporating NIC actual rates reporting as a standard feature in their software, Yardi has enabled operators to easily participate in NIC Actual rates and benchmark their own properties as well as contribute to transparency in the space.”
In connection with the new data driven initiative, Yardi Voyager will now have a button to push data, aggregated for anonymity, to NIC. Operators can then compare their pricing versus other communities within the NIC MAP Data Service. Other benefits of shared data include improved flow of informed capital into senior housing, reduced cost of capital and increased operational efficiency, NIC states,
The National Investment Center for Senior Housing & Care adds that many senior living companies have already committed to providing monthly data feeds to NIC for the actual rates initiative, covering more than 250,000 senior housing units nationwide.
Last week, NIC reported that the occupancy rate for seniors housing across the United States was steady in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The non-profit stated in its report that occupancy in US seniors housing properties sector averaged 88.0% in the fourth quarter of 2018, up 0.1 percentage point from the prior quarter and down 0.7 percentage point from a year ago. Current occupancy is 2.2 percentage points below its most recent high of 90.2% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
“Not only was the fourth quarter’s increase in occupied seniors housing units the highest recorded since NIC began reporting the data back in 2006,” said Chuck Harry, NIC’s chief of Research & Analytics. “The fourth quarter was the first quarter of the past three years during which the growth in occupied units managed to keep pace with the number of new units that came on line.”
Earlier this week, Yardi issued an upbeat report on the nation’s multifamily housing sector. The Santa Barbara, CA-based firm noted that the multifamily cycle hasn’t run out of steam despite signs of a slowdown in the economy.
The report projects that “cracks in the economic armor will likely begin to show” this year as the 2017 tax reform’s impact fades and trade uncertainties grow. However, demand in the multifamily industry “is expected to stay healthy as long as job growth remains positive and young adults and retirees choose apartments,” the report stated, noting that “2019 should be another good year for the multifamily industry.”
The analysis foresees rent increases ranging from 2.5% to 3%, led by metros in the South and West and fast-growing tertiary markets such as Tacoma, WA., Colorado Springs, CO., and Reno, NV. Overall rents grew by 3.2% nationwide in 2018.
Yardi will be hosting a class titled “NIC Reporting: Review of the Setup & Data Collection Process” in connection with the new data initiative for Yardi clients attending the Yardi Senior Living Forum in Santa Barbara, CA on March 20-21, 2019.