Senior Housing Residency Keeps Falling Despite Vaccine Roll-Out

  • Occupancy sets new low, according to survey of owners
  • ‘Natural lag’ between inquiries and move-ins, group says

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Senior housing occupancy reached a record low in the first quarter in the U.S., even as vaccination rates rose and coronavirus infections ebbed.

Residency at assisted and independent-living facilities fell to 78.8% in the first three months of 2021, down 1.8 percentage points from the prior quarter and 8.7 percentage points from a year earlier, according to a poll of for-profit and non-profit managers by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care. The trend is a potential concern for investors in the industry’s debt.