After Record M&a Year In 2025, Senior Housing Investors Pivot To ‘must-act Mentality’

Dealmakers in 2025 notched almost 21% more transactions than in 2024, representing a record-smashing year for the industry, according to a new report from Levin Associates.

A separate new report from the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care (NIC) shows that senior living investors are on the “fast lane” of growth in 2026, and that they are pivoting from “wait-and-see” to “must act” given the state of rising demand.

Levin Associates recorded 871 publicly announced senior housing deals in 2025, a rise of 20.8% compared to 2024, when the company recorded 721 deals. In the fourth quarter of 2025, senior living dealmakers set a new quarterly record with 285 publicly announced deals. The total is a more than 34% increase from the previous record of 212 deals set in the third quarter of 2025. The industry invested almost $15.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone. Senior housing deals made up the lion’s share of the total deals (59%).

Total spending on senior housing deals rose to $30.5 billion in 2025, “marking the highest annual total in more than 10 years,” according to a press release from Levin Associates. The average dollar volume of those deals in 2025 rose 177% from the $11 billion total that dealmakers publicly shared in 2024.

Smaller deals drove much of senior living M&A for the majority of 2025, but larger players like Welltower (NYSE: WELL) notched big blockbuster deals that pushed up the total dollar amount for senior living deals last year.

Meanwhile, investor sentiment toward the senior living industry in 2026 has evolved from “wait-and-see” to “must watch,” wrote NIC’s Omar Zahraoui in a recent blog post.

“Capital that once stood on the sidelines has re-entered the conversation,” he wrote. “Many investors aren’t just observing the improved occupancy and fundamentals, they are moving toward a ‘must-act’ mentality. The strong NCREIF returns in 2025 have helped build this momentum and are anticipated to remain strong in 2026. “

He added that lenders and capital providers are prioritizing existing assets as transaction volumes reach their highest levels since 2015, according to NIC data.

“Pricing reinforces the trend,” Zahraoui wrote. “Notably,four-quarter per-unit pricing climbed to $175,000 in 3Q 2025, just 16% shy of its all-time peak. If current growth trends hold, pricing is on track to surpass that high in 2026.”

The post After Record M&A Year in 2025, Senior Housing Investors Pivot to ‘Must-Act Mentality’ appeared first on Senior Housing News.