Many senior living communities across the U.S. are holding off from discounting, reflecting discipline for keeping senior living rates where they are.

That’s according to a survey conducted by Bild and Co.The survey is based on market surveys of more than 250 communities across the country.

In the first quarter of 2024, 63% of senior living communities tracked by Bild didn’t offer specials, representing a 7% increase from the first quarter of 2023, according to Alyssa Wendrick, director of data research for Bild and Co. The most common discount that senior living operators offered in the first quarter of the year was reduced or discounted rent, which 11% of communities offered. Another 9% waived or reduced community fees as a discount.

“Most commonly a community won’t offer a special if they are at capacity or close to capacity,” Wendrick told Senior Housing News. “But we have also seen that some communities feel they have some of the lowest prices in their market area and do not feel they need specials.”

Operators that did reduce rent typically did so for one to two months at a time, although some pushed rent reductions up to 24 months.. Operators’ average rate reductions registered at $1,958, with outliers as high as $10,000 rent reductions.

Wendrick added that while there was a reduced percentage of rent reductions offered in the first quarter of 2024, communities that did offer rent reduction were offering higher reductions than in 2023.

According to the report, the average community fee in the first quarter of 2024 was $4,152. Throughout 2023, the average fee was $2,889. Wendrick noted community fees have increased by 62% since 2022. When community fees were waived or reduced as part of a discount, 58% of respondents said they would waive the full amount.

Rent rates are also seeing a continuous increase, with the most common amount seen in the first quarter ranging between 3% and 3.9%. The highest amount seen was 15%, though the lowest next to 0 was a 2% increase. The median increase at 4% still shows a 0.21% overall increase compared to 2023.

“Rate increases have slowly increased since 2022,” Wendrick said. “Newer communities are seeing an annual rate increase between 7% to 10%.”