As Justin Hutchens, govt vice chairman, senior housing and chief funding officer has mentioned earlier than, Ventas (NYSE: VTR) is standing on the cusp of a protracted senior dwelling demand runway. To this point, the corporate is off to a “good begin” amid an lively summer season leasing season.
Good points within the firm’s senior housing working portfolio helped the Chicago-based actual property funding belief (REIT) develop its normalized funds from operations (FFO) per share to $0.87 within the second quarter of 2025, a 9% acquire in comparison with the corporate’s FFO per share of $0.80 in the identical interval in 2024.
Present tailwinds in demand, the positioning of its platform and the energy of its operators prompted Ventas to extend its full-year steerage for normalized FFO per share $3.44, a acquire over the $3.41 per share FFO steerage the REIT supplied in Might.
Hutchens instructed Senior Housing Information Thursday he sees a “window of alternative” forward for the REIT given robust occupancy and unit absorption coupled with a scarcity of newly constructed communities and thousands and thousands of older adults poised to enter the trade within the years forward.
Hutchens mentioned he believes Ventas is in “probably the greatest positions to develop our platform externally,” particularly because it continues to assist operators by its proprietary enterprise intelligence platform, Ventas OI.
The corporate additionally upped its funding quantity steerage for 2025 to $2 billion, up from $1.5 billion earlier this 12 months. To this point this 12 months, Ventas has closed offers price $1.1 billion of that complete.
“We’ve dedicated to deploy billions of {dollars} into the senior housing sector and to increase our footprint,” Hutchens mentioned.
The REIT continues to develop its base of senior dwelling operators, having grown from 10 operators in 2020 to 36 in 2025.
Ventas has 1,386 properties general, with 691 in its SHOP phase and 257 in its triple-net phase. Ventas inventory rose 1.05% on Thursday to relaxation at $67.18 at market shut.
‘Important progress’ forward
Hutchens highlighted the Ventas Operational Insights (OI) knowledge platform and its means to assist operators lock in charges that can each entice new residents and enhance income per occupied room (RevPOR) progress.
The corporate’s analytics capabilities assist operators maximize occupancy and “adjusting charges” in a approach that doesn’t dissuade move-ins. Ventas calls it “value quantity optimization.”
“We’re making an attempt to drag each levers, we wish to see occupancy and price develop, and we’ve made the perfect connection just lately of each transferring these collectively,” Hutchens mentioned.
The corporate’s SHOP phase posted same-store money working income of almost $796 million, representing a acquire of greater than 8% over the identical interval in 2024, when the phase’s money working income was about $735 million. Ventas reported money NOI of 28.4% for the phase, representing a acquire of 130 foundation factors versus 2Q24, when the phase’s money NOI was 27.1%, in response to the corporate’s monetary disclosures.
Ventas’ SHOP phase occupancy grew to 87.6% within the second quarter of 2025, representing a 240 foundation level enhance in comparison with the identical time final 12 months.
Ventas is continuous to tweak its SHOP phase to maximise efficiency because it seeks to spice up the portfolio to generate half or extra of its NOI this 12 months. The corporate plans to transform 45 Brookdale Senior Dwelling (NYSE: BKD) from triple-net lease agreements to the phase. The communities are 78% occupied in “actually robust markets” and have potential to push NOI “upward of $100 million,” Hutchens famous.
The corporate has lengthy taken a “proper market, proper asset, proper operator” technique to the make-up of its senior housing portfolio. To that finish, the corporate believes it has a web absorption alternative of about 1,000 foundation factors over the subsequent few years and potential web demand alternative of 1,500 foundation factors.
Given the corporate’s monetary energy and adaptability, Hutchens mentioned Ventas is “poised to develop.”
“We’ll see important progress in our goal demographic for the subsequent 15 years or so and it’s a protracted runway of demand and a platform that’s actually designed to be aggressive within the senior housing enterprise,” Hutchens mentioned.
The OI platform helps Ventas senior dwelling operators in giving value steerage as the corporate goals to additional enhance its pricing technique and drive move-in quantity. To stay aggressive in a market the place little new growth is going on, Hutchens pointed to Ventas’ effort to conduct over “300 refreshes” and capital investments into current properties since 2023.
“We’re serving to to deliver a extra sharpened concentrate on the place there’s alternative to enhance and all of our operators are taking part,” Hutchens mentioned.
Hutchens mentioned there’s a possibility to push charges greater in senior dwelling and enhance occupancy because the variety of newly opened communities stays restricted.
“It’s actually one group at a time and each group has its personal value technique relying on the dynamics concerned with a neighborhood website,” Hutchens instructed SHN.
Transfer-in momentum builds in 2025
Transfer-in exercise and census progress had been “notably robust” in June with “probably the greatest months we’ve had in numerous years,” Hutchens mentioned. The REIT’s SHOP operators improved common occupancy by 60 foundation factors from Might to June as July is “off to begin.”
“We’d count on it to be sequentially pretty much as good or higher within the month of July so it’s good continued momentum, robust tour and move-in exercise and the important thing promoting season is off to begin,” Hutchens added.
Final December, Brookdale agreed to proceed to lease 65 of the 120 communities it had with Ventas, with the REIT transitioning the remaining communities to different operators.
Amongst these operators is Discovery Senior Dwelling, which is poised to function about 80 communities the REIT owns by the top of this 12 months.
“We’re actually excited to get extra communities of their palms as a result of they’ve delivered outsized outcomes for us,” Hutchens mentioned.
Ventas continues “tinkering” with 5% to 10% of the present portfolio by administration transitions to enhance outcomes.
“It’s a part of the technique we have now for the appropriate market, proper asset, proper operator—get the appropriate operators in place in the appropriate communities. And we noticed a possibility, so we took it,” Hutchens mentioned.
Ventas has up to now this 12 months closed $1.1 billion of its anticipated $2 billion complete. On that entrance, dealmaking momentum is selecting up as Ventas seeks to amass “high-performing communities in “well-positioned in markets with robust tailwinds.”
“There’s momentum within the funding exercise, there’s additionally extra out there available in the market, so we’re utilizing the energy of our platform to maximise that chance,” Hutchens mentioned.
Hutchens highlighted a gaggle of 26 impartial dwelling communities that had been transitioned to 3 totally different operators in late 2023 as exemplifying the fruits of the corporate’s labor. Right now, these communities are 84% occupied and with occupancy progress 890 foundation factors greater in comparison with 2024.
Ventas’ Vacation by Atria portfolio gained 110 foundation factors of occupancy from Might to June.
