Data from the nonprofit group National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care shows that of the senior housing inventory available in Tarrant County, 82.3% of those units are occupied as of the third quarter of 2022.
Tarrant County’s occupancy rates for senior housing inventory is lower than others in the area. Denton County has an occupancy rate of 83.9%, while the Dallas-Fort Worth region has an 83.5% occupancy rate. In the U.S., that rate is 82.2%.
The occupancy rates indicate the strength of the need for senior housing units, NIC Senior Principal Caroline Clapp said. For Tarrant County, these rates have dropped from where they were before the pandemic, which was 84.6% in the third quarter of 2020.
“The new supply that you’re seeing coming into the market is probably in response to the demand that we’ve seen since the pandemic as well as anticipated future demand,” NIC Chief Economist Beth Mace said.
Paul Markowitz, founder of Senior Living Specialists, said his business has been actively working to place more seniors in homes. Senior Living Specialists offers free referral services to connect seniors with housing options in the Dallas-Fort Worth region that are best for them. It usually fielded about 350-375 phone calls a month before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the company is receiving between 425-450 calls every month, Markowitz said. Mace pointed out that the baby boomers, or the generation of people born between 1946-1964, are also aging, and more senior housing units will be needed for them.
“The demand for housing and care options is just going to grow as time goes on,” Mace said. “And then there’s of course a huge need to create more affordable products as well.”
As the franchise owner for Oasis Senior Advisors in the North Dallas area, Olia Davis’ job is to find living spaces for seniors. She said the biggest challenge is the availability of lower-income housing.
“We have three communities that are income subsidized in the area, but they have, like, a two-year waitlist,” she said.
