Lower (slightly) interest rates, improving fundamentals, positive investor sentiment, and a pending wave of loan maturities are among the factors contributing to a projected recovery in investment sales activity in 2025.

For lenders that are taking the “extend-and-pretend” approach, placing less emphasis on valuation declines, and waiting for lower rates, the risks have not abated, and the New York Fed has taken notice in a new report.

Some borrowers and lenders remain under pressure with property values still down from their peak and interest rates still elevated at this point in the rate cycle, with the Department of Housing and Urban Developing proposing more relaxed loan standards, and housing continues to play a sizable role in the political conversation at the height…

Consumer sentiment is shifting as inflation expectations stabilize and more consumers expect lower interest rates in the next 12 months, but after such a long period of economic uncertainty, confidence in the economy is more difficult to find. In the multifamily market, regional differences in apartment supply continue to impact rent growth, but investment activity…

Commercial real estate investment activity has not changed much since last month’s interest rate reduction from the Federal Reserve (nor has it had much time to adjust), but sales volumes will almost certainly improve in 2025, given the strong investment prospects for CRE assets at the start of a rate cutting cycle. For multifamily apartments,…