Coming together: Foreign cash, loose capital bolstering real estate

ACONFLUENCE OF FACTORS is feeding demand for healthcare real estate, including robust domestic demand, related interest from investors outside the U.S. and relatively easy access to capital.

The rapidly ascending ambulatory sector—one of several trends impacting the undulating healthcare real estate landscape—is feeding a booming medical office market. That, in turn, has drawn increased foreign investment and loosened the purse strings on a vast supply of capital that also has fueled construction and mergers and acquisitions.

While foreign investment isn’t yet significant enough to dictate a change in medical office pricing or supply and demand, it could eventually shift market dynamics, said Hunter Beebe, a managing principal at healthcare real estate advisory firm Healthcare Real Estate Capital. “There is a lot of capital pursuing healthcare real estate beyond foreign—private equity, REITs, domestic—the list goes on,” he said.