Senior Housing Could Lure More Real Estate Investor Interest in 2018

Real estate investors are increasingly becoming interested in senior housing as an alternative property sector, according to a new “Americans Investor Intensions Survey” from commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE (NYSE: CBG). The survey, held annually, reflects the sentiment of nearly 300 investors focused on the U.S. in coming year.

Roughly 20% of respondents said they were actively pursuing investments in senior living or housing, while 19% of those surveyed said they were already invested in it. Investors showed more interest in other “alternatives” this year, such as real estate debt and student housing, according to the survey.

“Risk tolerance is expected to remain unchanged, but investors’ search for yield and asset diversification is pushing them toward value-add assets, secondary markets, and ‘alternatives,’” CBRE noted. “Relative to last year, the share of respondents actively pursuing alternatives increased across nearly every sector.”

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Other commonly reported motivations for considering alternative property sectors includes investors seeking to protect against real estate downturns and benefit from structural changes in demand. Medical and senior housing properties in particular are sometimes seen as “recession-proof,” the survey noted, as people will continue to need health care and aging services regardless of economic conditions.

Furthermore, 6% of respondents said they were seeking out alternative property sectors specifically because of the aging population.

Read the full report on CBRE’s website.

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Written by Tim Regan

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