The top developers of continuing care retirement communities remain extremely bullish on growth prospects, despite the subprime mortgage meltdown that has gripped the U.S. housing market, according to results of a new study.
“They’re still feeling very strong. I think a lot of that shows how strong the growth of the largest (providers) is,” said Lisa Lehman, managing partner of Holleran Consulting. She released analysis results at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging annual meeting in October.
Holleran conducted telephone interviews between June and September with top officials at 82 of the country’s 100 largest eldercare organizations, as identified in the 2007 AAHSA Ziegler 100 list.
Most respondents — including those at the 10 largest organizations — currently have expansion construction projects underway. In addition, nearly 90% of respondents in the largest 10 organizations said they plan to acquire new communities in the next two years.
Another “Wow!” factor, Lehman said, was that half the respondents said their organizations own land on which they plan to build new communities. That includes more than half of the respondents in the largest 25 and two-thirds of those in the largest 10. Nearly 70% indicated they expected to build new communities within four years.
Another key finding from the phone poll: Neither the age of a provider’s organization nor the type of CCRC contracts offered significantly affected resident satisfaction scores.
From the December 01, 2007 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
