National + Finance | May 10, 2021

CREFC Survey Shows Strong Upward Surge in Industry Outlook

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) said Friday its First-Quarter 2021 CREFC Board of Governors’ Sentiment Index Survey and Special COVID-19 Survey indicate a continued strong upward surge in positive outlook for commercial and multifamily real estate finance.

Ninety-five percent of the CREFC board expects the U.S. economy to perform better over the next 12 months, compared to 77% in Q4 2020. Within the Special COVID-19 survey, 91% of the board believes CRE will fare better during the pandemic compared to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. That’s up from 39% who held this view in Q3 2020 and 65% in Q4 2020.

“The latest survey results and continued momentum reflect how far the commercial real estate industry has progressed over the past year,” said Lisa Pendergast, CREFC executive director. “The continued surge in optimism among our board members is undoubtedly punctuated by the impact of vaccine distribution and pent-up investor demand.”

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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