Like almost every category in commercial real estate, seniorhousing providers have been affected by the pandemic with mostreporting a decrease in occupancy as people stay away due to fearsof infection and an increase in COVID-related costs. It remainsunclear whether these factors will remain in play for the longterm, although almost certainly they will be part of the landscapeuntil a vaccine or effective treatment is discovered.

As these companies navigate uncharted territory one surprisingguide may be a look at the sector before the pandemic struck. Ashas been previously noted many times, commercial real estate'sfundamentals were relatively sound pre-COVID and it is hoped thatat least some of these characteristics will help carry companiesthrough this current crisis.

One source of new data comes from a JLL market research reportcompleted before the COVID-19 pandemic, which found that theseniors housing sector posted its highest transaction volume infour years during the first quarter of 2020.