CRE transaction volume has picked up notably over the past few months, but the market is still nowhere near normal, according to a panel of experts Trepp recently convened to talk about valuation trends.

A looming question, according to panelists, is whether federal stimulus aid has avoided or merely postponed prolonged distress.  Jeremy Walling, Executive Vice President, Valuation & Advisory Services at Colliers International, noted that while government aid definitely avoided some distress early on in the pandemic, aid of that scale always come with unintended consequences, so investors should “maintain a watchful eye” on all markets – including those that have seen minimal impact thus far.