Senior housing, healthcare borrowers rates move higher.

Rate trends that most directly impact HUD and other types of conventional senior housing/ healthcare loans have continued to ratchet higher with no immediate relief in sight, funding expert Jeffrey A. Davis warns.

Davis is Chairman of Cambridge Realty Capital Companies, one of the nation's leading senior housing/healthcare lenders with more than $1.75 billion in closed healthcare transactions since the 1990s.

"HUD rates closely mirror what's happening with 10-year Treasury notes, while conventional loan products are more attuned to the U.S. Prime rate or the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) index," he noted.

In early May, 10-year Treasuries climbed above 5 percent for the first time in the current cycle. The U.S. Prime rate was unchanged from the previous month at 7.75 percent, but the three-month LIBOR rate was also on the move, rising from 4.84 percent to 5.05 percent.

Davis believes uncertainties regarding new Federal Reserve Board Chairman Benjamin Bernanke's priorities are keeping investors on edge.

"We've been urging our clients to watch these trends closely. If it makes sense, borrowers should be moving to lock in long-term rates at current levels if possible," he advised.