CCRCs keep stable rating for third straight year

For the third year in a row, continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) are showing improvement, according to the latest Fitch Rating. The stable rating will continue into 2016, Fitch predicts.

The further improvement in core operating performance can be attributed to the broader senior housing recovery, with home prices rising and mortgage delinquency rates declining, according to a press release about the rating.

Median capital spending increased across all rating categories in 2014, with the investment-grade median rising to 106.6 percent last year from 86.4 percent in 2013. Capital spending rose the highest for 'A' (to 124.7 percent from 107.9 percent in 2013) and 'BBB' rated CCRCs (to 106.2 percent from 79.7 percent), the report states.

"The largest driver of negative rating pressure for CCRCs continues to be the impact of additional debt issued to fund campus renovations or expansions," Fitch Ratings Senior Director James LeBuhn said in a press release.

Megan Combs

Megan Combs was Associate Editor of I Advance Senior Care / Long Term Living from 2013-2018.