The Senior Living Property Sector: How is it Perceived by the Institutional Investor?

Abstract

Executive Summary. The senior living and long-termcare property sector has expanded in response to changingdemographics and the increased needs of an overallaging population. As the population of baby boomersreaches retirement age and moves into the "sunshine"years, the demand for real estate products designed withelderly end users in mind is growing, and the risk/returnprofiles of these investments are shifting. The aimof this research is to shed light on the perceived risksand returns associated with the specific types of investmentsavailable in the seniors housing real estate sector.We queried members of the Pension Real Estate Associationto determine how they view this property sectorcompared with alternative real estate investments, aswell as more traditional institutional investments, suchas stocks and bonds. We found that they do not appearto be investing in most of the seniors housing productavailable, as they perceive it to have relatively high risk,and they do not perceive the returns to be high comparedto more traditional real estate investments or alternativeinvestments like international real estate.