In June Vince Viverito, Jason Punzel and I attended the American Seniors Housing Association (“ASHA”) Mid-Year Meeting which was held in Denver, Colorado. In addition to several meetings and receptions, I was asked to be the moderator on a panel discussing the state of the seniors housing investment and capital markets. Fortunately, I was provided with an all-star group of panelists which helped to drive meaningful conversation on where the sector is currently and what the expectations are for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026.
Below is an excerpt from the panel discussion:
Binder: Entering the year, there was estimated to be $10 billion of seniors housing debt maturing in 2025. How do you see this playing out?
Scott Macgregor (Focus Healthcare Partners): Every investment that we’re evaluating right now has either some kind of fund life issue or debt issue that’s driving the sale. If you don’t have to sell today, it’s still probably not the right time. But it’s getting better. I think you’re going to see a lot of lenders modify or continue to modify loans. But there’s still plenty of opportunities where the debt is driving the situation.
Binder: Would you look at an atypical property for your portfolio if it is a good fit for one of your current operating partners?
Andy Cooper (Ventas REIT): Yes. About 70 percent of our investments over the last year or two have been with an operator that we already had a relationship with. We want to grow with them. We dip down below what might be our typical transaction size.
Binder: From the investment perspective with the GSEs and HUD, why are we seeing very prolonged scenarios over the last 12 months?
Lisa Burgess (Berkadia): For the HUD transfer of physical assets (TPA) process, we haven’t seen a significant impact. But the advice is to make sure that you hire an attorney that is really good at the TPA process. It generally takes 90 days for the GSEs to close. The process requires full underwriting and new third-party reports.
