Senior living operators continue to push rental rate increases, but a new data release shows the pace of those increases is decelerating.
In an analysis of aggregated pricing data from 1,700 communities, LivingPath, an online platform that collects and provides data on senior housing communities, found that rates are rising 20% to 30% less quickly in 2024 compared to 2023 and 2022.
“There is a lagging catch-up still going on to match resident rates with staffing costs, even though wages have not increased materially in most markets since last year,” LivingPath CEO Jonathan Woodrow told Senior Housing News.
Compared to 2023, rates in the first quarter of this year from the data captured by LivingPath, rates for a studio apartment in independent living were $3,529 per month, representing a 5.6% rise; rates for a studio apartment in assisted living were $4,678 representing a 6.6% rise; and rates for a companion suite in memory care were $5,827, representing a 4.3% rise
Average rates for a one-bedroom apartment in independent living were $4,092, a rise of 6.4%; in assisted living were $5,721, a rise of 6.5%; and in memory care, a private room was $7,025, up 5.7% in 2024.
Last year during the first quarter, rates rose between 8% and 10%, according to LivingPath data from last year.