WASHINGTON, DC-The Real Estate Roundtable’s latest quarterly Sentiment Survey points to a leveling off of property valuations decline--and an easing of the painfully tight credit market conditions of the last two years.

Of the 100-plus senior real estate executives participating in the survey, 82% characterized market conditions today as better than a year ago--up from 73% in Q1--although only 17% said conditions are "much better." The "Current Conditions" index now stands at 74.

There is talk that the commercial real estate market may have finally reached bottom, Jeff DeBoer, head of the Roundtable, said in a prepared statement. "But while sentiment is up, that’s not to say things are good. Refinancing remains difficult for many, and defaults are still rising, which means more pain ahead," he said. DeBoer was unable to speak with GlobeSt.com in time for publication.

Another sign that the industry is leveling off, according to the survey: only 28% of those polled perceived asset prices today as lower than they were a year ago, compared with 57% in the previous quarter.

Other findings from the survey:

• 56% expect valuations to be "somewhat higher" a year from now and 35% expect them to remain "about the same," compared to 42% and 35%, respectively, in the previous survey.

• Meanwhile, the percentage who expect values to be "somewhat lower" in a year dropped from 19% last quarter to 6% in the latest survey.

• Of the 65% that said debt capital is more available today than one year ago, 27% characterized availability as "much better." By contrast, only 19% of Q1 survey participants felt conditions were "much better" than one year earlier.

• As for equity side, 76% said availability is better than one year ago (with 26% characterizing it as "much better"). However, the number of respondents predicting conditions will be better "one year from today" declined from 75% in Q1 to 66% in Q2, with a corresponding increase in the number who expect equity availability to remain "about the same."