After a year in which transactions plummeted more than 50%, some institutional investors have reported they are now returning to the property markets. To be sure, they are expecting discounted pricing for the assets but their return is notable as it suggests that the market has indeed reached bottom or is close to it.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management will resume "actively investing" in US commercial property this year because the market is bottoming out, Jim Garman, GSAM's head of real estate told Reuters at MIPIM. He cites a combination of reasons including the expectation that interest rates will come down, but also because "we're starting to see a floor in prices set by buyers who are in the market."

"We don't think it's going to be a very sharp V-shaped recovery – we think we're going to bump along the bottom for a while, as a lot of these over-levered situations in the asset class get worked through," he added.