J. Justin Hutchens
Executive Vice President, Senior Housing and Chief Investment Officer at Ventas
Thank you, Debbie. I am pleased to report that our SHOP portfolio performance is off to a strong start. Total SHOP same-store cash NOI growth was 15.2%. The our same-store SHOP communities delivered solid results across all key metrics, including occupancy, REVPOR and opex. The first quarter same-store SHOP occupancy grew by 240 basis points year-over-year led by the U.S., which saw 280 basis points of occupancy gains. We have had a strong start to the year with broad-based contributions across community types, geographies and operators. In our same-store portfolio in the U.S., move-ins were elevated at 113% versus prior year, led by independent [Indecipherable] events at 127%, outperforming normal seasonal patterns.
We have had nine consecutive months of tours outperforming prior year levels, contributing to the positive move-in momentum we have been experiencing. REVPOR performed in line. Operating expenses were lower than expected due to continued strength in net hiring and cost efficiencies realized by our operators, leveraging insights from our Ventas OI platform. opex POR was 1.6%, and or 0.5% when adjusted for the leap year. I'm really happy that our operators are delivering excellent care and services and great results. I'd like to highlight Sunrise and Sinceri, Discovery and the Group Maris in particular, for their superb all-around performance to start the year. Like I said, we are experiencing broad-based contributions from our operators, and we continue to leverage Ventas' OI's BaaS data sets and powerful analytics and insights to drive performance outcomes.
Notably, our SHOP portfolio delivered double-digit same-store cash NOI growth for the seventh quarter in a row. Growth in the first quarter was led by our U.S. communities, which grew same-store cash NOI 18%. This strong performance in the U.S. was complemented by our high-quality Canadian portfolio, which is 95% occupied and continues to deliver a valuable and stable cash flow with 9% year-over-year growth. Given the strong start to the year, we are happy to raise our full year guidance expectations on our same-store SHOP portfolio, which we now expect to grow 12% to 16% in NOI year-over-year. The key assumptions that drive the midpoint of our range, our average occupancy growth of about 270 basis points, up from 250 led by the U.S. with over 300 basis points, which is higher than we originally anticipated.
We still expect REVPOR of about 5%, which puts the total revenue growth at around 8% and opex POR growth is expected to be slightly lower than previously forecasted at approximately 2.5%. Our total SHOP expectations were originally to add $118 million of NOI growth, and we have raised that expectation to $130 million. April occupancy is already off to a strong start, driven by both tours and move-ins volumes are higher than prior year levels. So we're optimistic about our ongoing occupancy performance. Remember that we are just now entering the critical key selling season. So we'll have to see how that plays out. Looking forward, we are energized by the 1,000 basis points of potential occupancy upside in our markets over the course of the next few years.
I'm excited about the very strong supply/demand fundamentals combined with well-invested properties and excellent operators supported by our Ventas OI platform to drive growth. Moving on to investments. Senior housing is now just over half of the Ventas portfolio NOI with shaft representing 40% and growing due to the exceptionally strong organic growth and now we are expanding externally as well. We have been actively capturing value-creating external growth opportunities focused on senior housing. So far, we have closed or under contract for approximately $330 million of senior housing investments of which $130 million is already closed. These opportunities are exactly in our sweet spot. I am particularly excited by the unique opportunity to invest in relatively high-yielding, high-quality senior housing communities, coupled with outsized growth.
These investments have a blended going-in yield in the high 7s, coupled with mid-teens unlevered IRRs. Additionally, we are investing at an attractive discount to replacement costs with an average cost of $241,000 per unit. Our approach to executing our investment strategy is guided by our right market, right asset, right operator framework. We're investing in markets with a compelling supply/demand profile, strong affordability and meaningful expected net absorption. We prefer communities that are supported by need-driven demand and offer a combination of services including independent living, assisted living and memory care. These communities help us employ a strategic expansion of Ventas strengths in our active value-creating asset management playbook driven through the Ventas OI platform supported by our best-in-class data analytics.
We are primarily expanding with existing operators with proven performance. Additionally, as part of our data-driven selection process, we welcome new operators with strong track records with capabilities tailored to the service offering at the community as we have more than doubled our SHOP operator pool over the past few years. I'll highlight the Magnolia Springs acquisition, which includes seven communities that are 10 years old on average. They're currently 89% occupied, and our located market is projected to grow around 1,100 basis points over the next few years, supporting more significant revenue growth. The communities average 100 units each and offer a combination of assisted living and memory care services in Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville market areas.
Affordability on average in the markets is very strong at a projected 7 times length of stay. The going in yield is projected to be low 7s and the unlevered IRR is projected to be mid-teens. The discount to replacement cost is estimated to be around 40%. The communities will be operated by a sincere who has a proven track record of delivering outstanding care services and performance. Moving ahead, we plan to continue to execute on our growing pipeline of senior housing communities. We are actively evaluating many attractive opportunities. In summary, occupancy momentum is strong, and we are off to a strong start to the year. We look forward to continuing SHOP organic growth and executing on our compelling investment pipeline.
Bob?