ALEXANDRIA, VA—Fresh reports, such as Tuesday's announcementsthat orders for durable goods rose last month and the ConferenceBoard's consumer confidence index is up, continue to point toward agradual recovery in the US economy. But twoleading commercial real estate researchers separately have posedthe question of when—or if—that recovery will shift into highergear. The answers, both conclude, aren't clear at this point.

“Although the economy continues to move forward, it is doing soat a measured pace, which has encouraged businesses and consumersto alter spending patterns and adjust to limited growth,” writesAlexander Paul, EVP with Alexandria, VA-basedDelta Associates. He characterizes this growth as “weak for apost-recession recovery,” albeit one that is likely to continue ona steady track through 2017, “barring a catastrophic event.”

At Cushman & Wakefield inNew York City, Ken McCarthy, senior managingdirector, economic analysis and forecasting, writes in his weeklyreport that “The jury is still out on whether the economy isentering a period of stronger growth that will last through thenext year or two, or just rebounding from the abysmal winter of2013/2014. A slew of data for the month of April has been releasedand it showed a mixed picture, with the housing sector risingstrongly while retail sales were sluggish and industrial productionfell.”