The senior housing sector is experiencing its strongest demand and occupancy rates since before the pandemic. Still, many investors remain anchored to outdated narratives of distress, according to Allison Irwin, VP of Seniors Housing M&A at Evans Senior Investments. While headlines have long focused on pandemic-era struggles, current data shows a sharp turnaround, with occupancy, pricing power, and investment activity all rebounding to levels not seen in years.
“This is the first time in my career that I’ve seen people really excited about seniors housing,” Irwin says. “2025 was a record year for M&A as far as transaction volume in the seniors housing space.”
The demographic shift behind this momentum is clear. With the baby boomer generation reaching age 80 this year, demand for senior housing has surged. “Occupancy rates for seniors housing are the highest that they’ve been right now post-COVID,” Irwin says.
The third and fourth quarters of 2025 marked a crucial inflection point for the sector. Irwin notes, ‘Q3 and Q4 really demonstrated that occupancy has finally reached the levels that people have been hoping for – the highest levels post‑COVID.
This renewed occupancy strength is allowing operators to raise rates, a reversal from the discounting and incentives that dominated recent years. “People are willing to pay increased rates, which is an improvement from previous eras of seniors housing,” Irwin says.
At the same time, operating expenses have begun to stabilize as inflation pressures ease. The combination of intense demand, higher pricing, and expense stabilization is expanding margins across the industry, a trend that is attracting increased attention from institutional investors.
With fundamentals improving, capital that had been sidelined during the pandemic is now being deployed. “A lot of groups have been sitting on capital during the COVID era, and they were just waiting for the space to improve. Now that it has, they’re ready to grow their portfolios,” Irwin says.
Buyers are also becoming more aggressive in their underwriting as they recognize the upside in the current market. “Over the past 12 months, that spread certainly has narrowed,” Irwin says, referring to the closing gap between seller expectations and buyer offers. “Sellers’ expectations are starting to align with what buyers are willing to pay, because buyers are willing to get more aggressive in their underwriting, given all of the upside that comes with seniors housing today.”
Despite these improvements, Irwin notes that many investors still view senior housing through a pandemic-era lens. “I think people might just still have in their heads that seniors housing is still struggling, because that’s been the story for the past five years,” she says.
Another factor supporting the sector’s recovery is a sharp decline in new development. “Development is currently at an all-time low because the cost of development is so high, which is making groups want to acquire to grow their portfolios instead of developing,” Irwin explains.
Development activity is at its lowest point since 2012, limiting new supply and reinforcing occupancy and pricing power for existing properties. This supply constraint is driving increased M&A activity, as acquisitions become the primary path for portfolio growth.
The gap between market fundamentals and prevailing perceptions creates unique opportunities for informed investors. Assets may be undervalued simply because many potential buyers are still influenced by outdated views of the sector’s health.
“We really need to change the narrative on senior housing – that it is a very abundant and growing space, and all you have to do is look at demand and demographics to support that argument,” Irwin says.
Evans Senior Investments has adapted its approach to capitalize on the current environment. Unlike traditional brokerages, where agents operate independently, the firm uses a collaborative W-2 model. “We’re all W-2 employees, meaning we work as a team on all deals that we transact on,” Irwin explains.
This structure enables the firm to leverage specialized expertise across transactions and maintain up-to-date market intelligence. “We have teams that specialize in different areas of the transaction process, which we have really found to give us a leg up in the space,” Irwin says.
As the senior housing sector moves from recovery to growth, brokerages and investors who recognize and communicate the new market reality are better positioned to capitalize on improved valuations and increased deal flow. Whether the broader market narrative catches up to these operational improvements will depend on how quickly occupancy and financial performance data become widely recognized, a process already underway, as shown by the record M&A activity Irwin describes.
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