Investment in healthcare real estate has risen dramatically in the past five years, with investors betting that medical facilities will be increasingly important to an aging population, according to JLL. Medical building sales in the United States hit nearly $10 billion in 2019, a figure that has doubled from 2014.

“Many institutional investors are realizing that healthcare property returns have been pretty solid and steady over time,” says Jay Johnson, a JLL managing director and national practice lead for healthcare. “We expect that trend to continue for the foreseeable future, which explains growing interest from institutional capital.”

The investment volumes are emblematic of the broader shift in real estate allocations in the past decade, as investors hunted for returns in an environment with persistently low interest rates. The sustained demand overall has encouraged investors to look into alternative real estate sectors such as healthcare and student hou