IRVINE, CA—The healthcare real estate sector isbecoming more diverse than ever as medical care moves away from theacute-care setting and Baby Boomers become seniors. In a recent article in GlobeSt.com's sisterpublication Real Estate Forum, executivesfrom this sector said that there are more product types than everin which investors can place their money and get a good yield.

Danny Prosky, founding principal ofAmerican Healthcare Investors and president andCOO of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT II Inc.,says that the scope of properties to invest in has broadened,particularly for his REIT. “We buy medical-officebuildings, hospitals, senior living andskilled nursing, and we compete with others inthose categories. It's also going toward life sciences and biotech.All of those clinical-healthcare classes are in favor, althoughsome types—such as medical office, senior housing and skillednursing—certainly tend to trade at lower cap rates thanothers.”

Skilled nursing is leading the pack a bit more than the otherhealthcare asset classes, but this category along with medicaloffice and senior housing are “definitely the most popular,”Garth Hogan, executive managing director of GlobalHealthcare Serviceswith Newmark Grubb KnightFrank, told Forum. “They're the safest choices ofthe healthcare REITs.”