As baby boomers continue to age and our nation’s population grows older, the demand for senior housing continues to rise. The performance of senior living facilities has drawn investor interest to the variety of senior living investment opportunities.

The senior housing market is now widely accepted as a specialized real estate market, with the long-term outlook for this asset class becoming increasingly positive. For investors who want to get in on the trend, senior living investment opportunities are plentiful.

The U.S. population is aging. The population of America continues to age, with roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 every day.

Life expectancy has risen significantly, and the speed at which it rises is only further hastened by advances in healthcare knowledge and technology. By 2030, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that 20.0 percent of all Americans will be seniors, up from 13.0 percent in 2008. This means that 1 out of every 5 Americans will be of retirement age.

Investing in senior care can yield high returns due to demand for services that are expected to increase as Baby Boomers move through the age continuum. Additionally, senior care facilities are typically able to charge higher prices than traditional assisted living facilities, leading to higher profits.

Hospitals and health systems reported significant losses in 2022 with both staffing shortages and burnout which continue to remain prevalent. Integrating technologies and leveraging diverse datasets will help improve the patient experience.

Economic uncertainty, staffing shortages, looming federal regulations, a new COVID variant and major changes to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) were just a few of the challenges facing the skilled nursing sector at the close of 2022.

However, favorable Medicaid policies, the growth of strong regional operators and opportunities to innovate are positive signs for the industry.

Successful providers will be those that deliver high-quality care despite economic and operational headwinds, while being nimble in evolving their businesses.

Each year the demand for senior housing grows. 2023 has shown that providers are more focused than ever on the next generation of consumers. However, they continue to struggle to find ways to meet current demand needs wrapped about the adult children and the seniors themselves.

The economic turmoil and uncertainty along with tight labor markets, rising interest rates and high inflation continue to plague the market demographics. Financing remains difficult, high construction costs and retention remain major challenges, and investing in operational innovation is tough. The good news is that senior living providers are resilient and continue to push forward.

Organizations are finding new ways to scale up and reimage how active adult and independent living communities operate along with reimagining the value to active adults to live and play in a community. Owners and operators will need to differentiate themselves from the competition to win over more diverse and demanding residents. The following trends have been in place over the last several years:

• Rise of rental active adult communities;
• Creation of new care paradigms rooted in population health; and
• Need to serve the middle market.

The market, itself, is now reaching a new level of maturity, with some trial-and-error resulting in models supported by lessons learned.  

As 2022 drew to a close, federal lawmakers proposed a bill to increase mental health care access for older adults, including those residing in skilled nursing facilities. Subsequently, the omnibus spending bill from Congress called for a study on the costs of serious mental illness, with SNFs and long-term care facilities among the settings to be examined.

As of December 2022, CMS released a proposed rule calling for increased behavioral health access for Medicare Advantage plan members.

These are just recent examples of a nationwide push to expand behavioral health care, including for older adults in nursing homes.

Two years of record-breaking activity have been replaced by uncertainty associated with high interest rates and volatile economic market concerns. However, opportunities exist in tech-enabled care coordination and technology deployment which has help keep the industry active.

This years’ conference will address senior housing and acute-care trends that are reshaping our industry.  This year’s speakers are all senior tested professionals with decades of  ‘direct’ experience in the industry.  Speakers will address  finance, architectural design, development, programming, operations, and staffing that the industry will require to forge ahead and navigate the current industry and future demands.