Where The Best Deals Are In Healthcare?

Changes in interest rates and cap rates continue to exert influence on healthcare property values, and Daniel Anderson, investment sales broker in Northmarq’s Nashville office, said he’s seeing falling transaction volume and plenty of all-cash buyers.

Anderson said the healthcare real estate sector continues to be both resilient and attractive. He singles out urgent care facilities and dental properties as good buys.

All-cash buyers are leveraging reduced prices and favorable rates. And with reduced competition, this investor group is becoming more active, he said.

“There has been a decrease in sales volume across all investor categories, especially as of late,” according to Northmarq. “But despite REITs and institutional investors temporarily reducing their acquisition activities, private buyers – including those all-cash buyers I mentioned before – have really emerged as influential players in the market.

He said what makes the healthcare real estate sector attractive is high acuity, resilience against economic downturns, and indispensable importance.

“Despite the recent uptick in interest rates, we continue to see low cap rates, although they are trending upward, net lease investors across nearly all categories remain active in the market,” Anderson said. “Regarding medical offices, those greatly depend on foot traffic and synergies for sales volume, and often cost twice as much as traditional office space to build. Therefore, we see healthcare tenants become heavily reliant on the stickiness of the location and buildout of the building.”

With cap rates, he said dental properties “currently shine” with a noteworthy four-basis-point compression year-over-year, while dialysis properties saw a significant spike in cap rate expansion of 135 basis points year-over-year.

Anderson’s advice to investors is to consider the pivotal role of diversification in healthcare real estate investments.

“Meticulously evaluate factors such as tenant creditworthiness, lease durations, and geographical diversity when constructing their portfolios or evaluating new acquisitions,” Anderson said.

For 2024, Anderson said he hopes to see the buyer-seller gap in pricing expectations converge in mid-2024, which could lead to an increase in transaction volume next year and beyond.

 

Source: GlobeSt.