CRE Professionals Pessimistic in Sentiment Survey

Commercial real estate professionals remain pessimistic about the market conditions in the year ahead. The September 2020 NAIOP CRE Sentiment Index came in with an average score of 45, indicating that market professionals have an “unfavorable” outlook for the next 12 months, according to the organization.

Respondents to the survey were more pessimistic than in the previous survey conducted at the start of the pandemic in mid-March. Pessimism increased in nearly all categories, including the outlook for the markets where respondents are active, as well as occupancy rates, face rents, effective rents and employment. The survey also shows an expectation that cap rates will increase nominally, but the outlook was on par with responses from the previous survey.