Merger and acquisition activity in the Long-Term Care sector, which includes senior housing and care companies, took off in the second and third quarters of 2018. The 110 deals announced in the second quarter set a record for a quarter, and the third quarter followed with a near repeat performance. The third quarter’s deal volume was down 6% compared with the previous quarter but 34% higher than the same quarter in 2017. The 103 deals made up 28% of the 368 deals announced within the past 12 months.

Fifty-five of the 103 deals revealed prices, although none were greater than $194 million. The $1.7 billion total in Q3:18 is 73% lower than the previous quarter’s nearly $6.5 billion, and 35% lower than the third quarter of 2017. The third quarter accounted for only 14% of the approximately $11.9 billion spent in the last 12 months.

The highest price paid in this quarter was a mere $194 million, but it’s a record setter because it was for a single building, not a portfolio of properties. The target, Brookdale Battery Park, owned by is a 14-story, 240,000 square-foot independent living community with 217 units overlooking the Hudson River in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan. Ventas (NYSE: VTR), the new owner, paid an average price per unit of $894,000, the highest recorded in 25 years.