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Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) is starting to look at opportunities in the medical office and life science real estate sectors, Chairman and CEO Debra Cafaro said.

Speaking Aug. 12 during an NYU Schack REIT Leadership Workshop webinar, Cafaro noted that while Ventas is focused on ensuring it has a steady foundation and strong balance sheet, “we will continue to be active acquirers as one element of the Ventas total return to shareholders story.”

The role that gateway markets have played in the commercial real estate sector in recent years is likely to diminish going forward, although the extent of that change will vary according to geographic location, according to Sherry Rexroad, managing director, global real asset securities at BlackRock.

Speaking Aug. 5 during an NYU Schack REIT Leadership Workshop webinar, Rexroad commented that “this whole gateway phenomenon that we’ve all been a proponent of in the past decade is one that is going to ebb, but it’s going to be different across different cultures.”

Last month, Citi Private Bank’s (CPB) global investment committee added an overweight position in REITs—the first time it has taken such a step.

Steven Wieting, chief investment strategist and chief economist at CPB, noted that the REIT market suffered a “very substantial correction” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, “for patient investors, this represents a significant valuation improvement for the sector and an entry point very different than the pre-COVID period.”