Healthcare REITs Bullish on Senior Living

SAN DIEGO-Healthcare’s strong track record as a sector in which to invest should continue, according to panelists at a general session on healthcare led by Ross Nussbaum, managing director of UBS, during this week’s REITWorld trade conference here. Inexpensive debt and good fundamentals, combined with the resolution of certain macro factors, continue to strengthen the sector, even in the midst of an economy still struggling to recover.

Panelist Debra Cafaro, chairman, president and CEO of Ventas Inc., said President Obama’s reelection is a net positive for healthcare providers and REITs since there will be less pressure on government reimbursements, although Democratic administrations generally undergo higher fraud scrutiny than Republican ones do. The rest of the panel, which included George Chapman, chairman, president and CEO of Health Care REIT Inc., and James Flaherty, chairman and CEO of HCP Inc., were generally positive about the president’s second administration, although Flaherty claimed he was “tentative.”