With the arrival of May, more than half of the states are starting to open up to one degree or another, with the rest making plans to do so in the near future. And as the country inches out of lockdown mode, we continue to see improvement in the leading indicators of traffic and leases.
During the week ending on May 6, both of these metrics increased on a national basis when compared with the preceding seven days, according to new data from Radix. However, these improvements have yet to be reflected in “downstream” operating stats, as leased and occupancy rates and net effective rent all declined on a week-over-week basis. In fact, the national leased and occupancy rates declined for the sixth straight week.
With that broad overview, here are some the major specific takeaways from the week, ending on May 6:
Anecdotally, my conversations with our operator clients have revealed that virtual leasing is now making up a sizeable portion of all leases. However, this has also led to an increase in lease cancellations as well.
Moving forward, I hope you continue to check my MFI page as the pandemic continues, as I will be providing weekly updates of these stats. As always, I wish you, your families, your colleagues and your residents health and safety.