Occupancy rates in senior housing showed strong improvement during the first quarter of 2011, growing 0.2% from the previous quarter and 0.6% over the same quarter a year ago. This represents the fourth consecutive quarter that the rate has risen, according to data released Thursday by the National Investment Center for the Senior Housing & Care Industry.
“Although the improvement in the occupancy rate during the previous four quarters has been nominal, it is clear that occupancy has moved past its cyclical bottom of the first quarter of 2010 and we now are one year into recovery,” said NIC’s researcher director, Charles Harry.
Nursing care facilities occupancy rates hit 88.5%, a 0.1% improvement. While nursing home occupancy rates have declined on a year-to-year basis, they have been stable since the second quarter of 2010, according to the NIC MAP report.
