The Five-Year Exit in Residential Senior Care: Who Buys, and What They Pay For
Every investor in a five-year hold eventually asks the same question. Who takes me out, and at what price? For boutique residential senior care, the answer has become clearer over the last eighteen months, and more favorable than most assume. With 45 percent of investors planning to buy and only 14 percent planning to sell, the exit risk people imagine does not match the market. But the data reveals something that should change how the hold itself is run. The exit multiple is set during the operating years, not at the close.
Capital Returned to Senior Housing in 2026. The Real Bottleneck Is Now People.
Senior housing posted $24 billion in transaction volume in 2025 and recovered to 89.9 percent occupancy, with 86 percent of investors planning to increase exposure in 2026. For credible operators with track record, capital is no longer the binding constraint. People are. With industry turnover at 34.5 percent and a workforce net promoter score of 38, the differentiator in senior housing is no longer access to capital. It is the operators who can actually staff what they buy.