The U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate reductions, combined with continued economic growth, supported strong commercial real estate lending activity in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the latest research from CBRE. The CBRE Lending Momentum Index, which tracks the pace of commercial loan closings in the United States, reached a value of 263 in December 2019—virtually unchanged from its third-quarter 2019 close and up 4.2 percent from a year earlier.

Despite the political uncertainty across Europe and around the world, European real estate remains a desirable asset for investors globally. That is the bottom line of the new Emerging Trends in Real Estate® Europe 2020report released by the Urban Land Institute with PwC in Brussels. The coming 2024 Olympic Games were cited as a big draw for Paris, but the Grand Paris project was also mentioned many times by panelists.

The persistent theme over the current economic cycle of “lower for longer” growth has contributed to a record expansion cycle that has surpassed 10 years. Results from ULI’s latest “Real Estate Economic Forecast” show that trend is likely to continue into 2021, said panelists speaking on a webinar discussing the survey results.

Tightening availability of tech talent in leading markets has spurred hiring momentum in smaller and upstart markets in the United States and Canada—such as Tucson, Arizona, and Waterloo, Ontario—as expanding tech employers seek additional labor pools, according to CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talentreport.

Interest rates have been on a roller-coaster ride over the last year, but cap rates are largely unchanged. The result of these moves is that cap rate spreads relative to the safe investments in the 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds have moved back to the levels seen in 2017. Given everything that has changed over the last year—as well as everything that has not—there may be room for cap rate spreads to move lower.

At the 2019 ULI U.K. National Conference, a panel on the practicalities of real estate investment reflected on the opportunities and challenges, not least in terms of the impact that Brexit is having on investor sentiment, as well as where we are in the market cycle. Multifamily continues to do well, while retail is struggling as in overbuilt markets.

Flush from Amazon’s selection of Arlington County, Virginia, for a new headquarters facility, three “titans” of the real estate scene in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region took a moment to celebrate at the ULI Washington Trends Conference. To put all of this into perspective were John “Chip” Akridge III, founder and chairman of Akridge; Thomas “Tom” Bozzuto, chairman and cofounder of the Bozzuto Group; and Bryant Foulger, chairman of Foulger-Pratt.

Alternative lenders increased their market share in the commercial real estate debt sector in 2018, panelists said at a ULI North Texas event in March. That trend is likely to continue this year as competition among all types of debt providers heats up capital markets.

A diverse group of experts presented a stark analysis of the rollout of federal Opportunity Zones during the recent ULI Housing Opportunity 2019 conference in Newport Beach, California. More than a year after the program was established, there is still confusion over regulations and implementation, they said.

Why CRE professionals of color should be included in opportunity zone plans.