Doctor and senior woman wearing facemasks during coronavirus and flu outbreak. Virus protection. COVID-2019..

Seniors housing has shown why it continues to be a solid investment, the head of the industry’s leading housing and care investment center said Thursday.

“We never saw negative rent growth,” said National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing and Care Industry President and CEO Robert Kramer in a special interview with McKnight’s Editorial Director John O’Connor.

“[C]ombined with the fact that we’ve shown stability and a lack of volatility in our investment returns compared to all the other commercial real estate property types, since about 2003, especially since the recession — that’s why we’ve got a lot of investors here intrigued,” Kramer said.

Senior apartments comprise 40% of the distribution of units under construction, while nursing care units have a 19% slice, notes the new NIC/ASHA Seniors Housing Construction Trends Report, which was released Thursday. Of note is that Dallas had the largest increase in the number of new seniors housing properties over the past four years, followed by Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago and Austin, TX.

Click here for the transcript of the interview.