Seniors Housing

CHICAGO — Investors are still cautiously optimistic about the seniors housing market even after the sector experienced a slight dip in transaction volume in 2018, according to the results of JLL’s Spring 2019 Seniors Housing Survey. The Chicago-based commercial real estate services firm surveyed more than 1,000 specialists in the seniors housing and care space. The results point to generally positive sentiment around the market, and notes that while transaction volume reached just over $13 billion in 2018 (a decline over recent years), the total number of transactions was up 41 percent year-over-year. “There simply weren’t as many large deals with big price tags in 2018 in comparison to the preceding few years,” says Brian Chandler, managing director of JLL Valuation & Advisory Services. “Though there were fewer large transactions, single assets and small portfolios have remained liquid.” Communities that feature the full continuum of care except for skilled nursing remain the most favored product. Eighty-eight percent of survey respondents said these assets were “very” or extremely” desirable, a 2 percent jump over the last quarter’s survey. Freestanding nursing facilities remained the least favorite asset type, though only 41 percent of survey respondents said they were “not at all desirable,” …