Healthcare investors, including senior housing ones, are apt to see an uptick in opportunities this year, according to several recent analyses. 

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, senior housing investors are wading back into the sector after a notable dip during the pandemic. Occupancy rates have slowly crept up, and the baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — are looking toward their future needs, making investment in senior living lucrative for investors. By 2030, the Census Bureau predicts,73 million Americans will be aged 65 or more years.

“People put off moving in for an extended period of time during the pandemic,” Lisa McCracken, the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care’s head of research, told the Wall Street Journal. “Now those needs have been amplified because of that delay.”

In the fourth quarter of 2023, real estate investors began to look ahead to growth in the healthcare space, reported Chad Littell of CoStar Analytics. He noted that the sector saw a 7.6% year-over-year increase in same-store net operating income growth from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2023.

As an example, Welltower, noted in a fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call that 2023 was the most active year in company history in terms of raising and deploying capital, with the pace of investment activity continuing into the new year.

The optimism jibes with a February report from JLL Value and Risk Advisory that noted that interest in long-term care investments remains strong as operators continue to rebound from pandemic-related losses.

“The seniors housing and care industry is on a striking path of growth, driven by demographic changes, strategic investment opportunities and a marketplace that continues to adapt post-pandemic,” Bryan J. Lockard, executive managing director and head of healthcare and alternative real estate at JLL Value and Risk Advisory, stated at that time. “We are witnessing a conscientious investment community, keen on harnessing the long-term potential this sector promises.”

Assisted living is generating the most interest from investors, followed by active adult and independent living, according to JLL.