As 2019 was winding down, a large MOB portfolio sale closed with just five days left in the year. That sale, perhaps, could be a key toward propelling 2019’s total MOB sales volume to once again top $10 billion for the fifth straight year.

Last year 77 medical office projects started that will be over 100,000 square feet when completed. That's quite an uptick over previous years when we averaged less than 50.

The MOB Scene December 17, 2019 Mike Hargrave Single Property MOB Cap Rates Creeping Up Topic:Policy/Legislation Overall, MOB cap rates have continued to remain at lower levels compared to just a few years ago. According to Revista’s 3rd Quarter, 2019 Medical Real Estate Transactions Report, the US MOB average cap rate 6.4% which was down slightly from 6.5% in 3Q18.

If you have seen Revista’s metro trends you may have noticed the Baltimore MOB market is one of the tightest in the country. The MOB occupancy rate has averaged between 93.9% and 94.8% since the 2nd quarter of 2018.

On the consumer side, health care costs represent almost 18% of GNP in the U.S. which is far higher than other industrialized nations around the world. The reasons are legion but will not be the focus of this article. To add insult to injury, overall health care outcomes in the U.S. are trending in the wrong direction in comparison to the rest of the world or, at best, just staying somewhat even.

Taken together, the Hospital and MOB sector is valued at $1 Trillion

There are currently about 600 medical office projects under way across the country. More than 15 percent of those projects include orthopedics. Why do so many projects include this specialty?

Medical Office (MOB) transaction volume has slowed during the past year. Within the top 50 metros Revista recorded $7.14B worth of MOB trades from 3Q18 to 2Q19

In recent weeks we've seen significant volatility in the stock market along with increasing fears of a recession. After all, this is now the longest market expansion in history. It can't continue forever, right? MOBs have long been considered somewhat insulated from market shifts - but what does the data say?