ULI MEMBER–ONLY CONTENT: With a growing risk of recession in the next 18 months, U.S. commercial real estate faces uncertainty but remains attractive to investors seeking yield and stability, two experts said during a recent ULI webinar.

Despite growing numbers of African Americans in its ranks, commercial real estate remains largely white and male. Today, African American business leaders point to remaining challenges, including access to capital. But they also underline the importance of the industry in broader conversations.

According to Real Capital Analytics, acquisitions of U.S. commercial property by overseas investors rebounded sharply in 2021, with investment concentrated on the apartment and industrial sectors. Cross-border deal volume totaled $70.8 billion in 2021, almost double the 2020 level.

Builders and developers are being pushed to put up structures that are environmentally responsible. But can you do that and still make money? And how about the building owner who is seeking to invest in remodeling and upgrading? With the right kind of financing, the answer has recently come to be ”yes,” said speakers at the 2021 ULI Fall Meeting.

Whether or not investment in sustainable buildings is currently profitable, green fund managers argue that it is best to begin making changes now.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage originators anticipate 2022 will be another strong year of borrowing and lending, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2022 Commercial Real Estate Finance Outlook Survey. Every commercial/multifamily firm polled expects originations to increase in 2022, with almost two-thirds (63 percent) expecting an overall increase of 5 percent or more across the entire market.

Dealmakers and capital providers seemed thrilled with the overall state of the U.S. commercial real estate industry at the ULI/McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance, an invitation-only discussion held in early December 2021 in New York City.

Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan are expected to recover swiftly from pandemic shocks over the next three years, according to ULI Real Estate Economic Forecast for the Asia Pacific region covering 2021 to 2023.

The growing glut of undeployed capital is expected to provide a lifeline to the strong revival of the Asia Pacific region’s real estate markets, according to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate ^® Asia Pacific 2022report, with Tokyo overtaking Singapore as the top-ranked investment prospect.

Emerging Trends in Real Estate ^® Europe 2022, the 19th annual survey by ULI and PwC of European real estate sector leaders’ expectations for the year ahead, finds a significant leap in confidence going into next year. The longer-term outlook is characterized by uncertainty, with many still coming to terms with the radical changes to the business of real estate brought about or accelerated by COVID-19.