As the financial system in America continues to grind to a halt, the amount of financing for senior housing plummets proving it is not immune to the credit crisis engulfing the economy. The 60% drop reported in the first quarter of 2008 from the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry (NIC) shows that new development will certainly drop for the immediate future. Loan volume fell substantially but the report reflects that the drop was concentrated between eight key lenders that contribute statistics to the NIC.
The NIC still predicts a slow down in construction projects across all areas of the senior housing industry, especially amongst smaller, independent developers. This trend follows the credit standards tightening at all local and regional banking institutions as they require more capital invested in projects and have tighter controls and standards set on occupancy rates and pre-sales/reservations of newly constructed units.
More information can be found at www.nic.org.
