CRE Exchange: Commercial Real Estate, Property Valuations, Real Estate Analytics

Cole Perry and Omar Eltorai work through the latest economic data that's reshaping commercial real estate: labor weakening in office sectors, construction capital concentrating almost entirely in data centers, and the 10-year treasury closing at 5.29% - the highest since 2002. Credit spreads tell an interesting story, diverging sharply between investment-grade and high-yield. The back half dives into Cole's research on power infrastructure and industrial pricing: whether proximity to power generation actually moves property values, how that premium has shifted since 2022, and what it signals about where industrial demand is headed.

Key moments:

02:00 Labor data

05:30 Consumer confidence falling, personal savings at record lows

11:50 Treasury yields spike to 5.29%

13:40 K-shape in credit spreads

18:50 CRE sorting market

20:30 Fundamentals remain strong

28:00 Power infrastructure research

Resources:

Cole Perry - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coleperry1/

Omar Eltorai - https://www.linkedin.com/in/omareltorai/

S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index - https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/en/index-announcements/article/sp-cotality-case-shiller-index-reports-annual-gain-in-july-2026/

Consumer Confidence - https://www.conference-board.org/topics/consumer-confidence/

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) - https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

GDP (Third Estimate) - https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product

Personal Income and Outlays - https://www.bea.gov/news/2026/personal-income-and-outlays-august-2026

September Employment Situation - https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

ADP National Employment Report - https://adpemploymentreport.com/

Cole Perry and Omar Eltorai break down a data-heavy week for the US economy and what it means for commercial real estate. They cover the latest construction, labor, and PMI readings, then turn to the Fed's August 2026 Beige Book for qualitative color on office bifurcation, multifamily concessions, and data centers as the dominant construction story across Districts. The back half focuses on a sharp move higher in global bond yields and what's driving it, followed by a historical look at how CRE has actually performed through four past episodes of rising real yields over the last three decades.

Key moments:

01:30 Construction, labor, and PMIs

12:05 Fed Beige Book

18:10 Global bond market moves

24:35 What higher rates mean for CRE

29:10 How CRE has performed through past rate cycles

34:40 Inflation-adjusted transaction volume

Resources:

Cole Perry

Omar Eltorai

Census Bureau - Value of Construction Put in Place report

JOLTS

ADP

BLS

Federal Reserve Beige Book (August 2026)

Q2 2026 US CRE investment and transactions quarterly

Omar Eltorai sits down with Mike Amthor, who leads US Performance Evaluation Analytics, and Cole Perry, Associate Director of US Research at Altus Group, to compare the Q2 2026 NCREIF ODCE Index against the Investment and Transactions Quarterly (ITQ) report. Two separate data sets, but a cohesive story: values continue a light upward trend driven by cash flow fundamentals, while transaction dollar volume climbs even as deal count still lags year-over-year. The conversation covers a capital movement from multifamily into industrial, cross-validated strength in storage and medical office, and a caveat on the office recovery narrative.

Key moments

• 01:55 ODCE Index explained
• 03:27 ITQ data overview
• 04:41 Q2 ODCE headlines
• 06:24 Q2 transactions headlines
• 08:04 Valuations vs deals
• 10:57 ODCE sector trends
• 13:39 Transaction sector trends
• 15:49 Storage and medical office
• 18:50 Market spotlights
• 23:43 New ITQ Metrics
• 28:08 Client pulse and outlook

Resources mentioned

• Mike Amthor – https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-amthor-40865154/
• Cole Perry - https://www.linkedin.com/in/coleperry1/
• Altus ODCE Index results webinar – https://www.altusgroup.com/webinars/ncreif-odce-index-quarterly-analysis
• Altus US CRE Investment and Transactions Quarterly report - https://www.altusgroup.com/featured-insights/cre-transactions/

A year after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed and with Opportunity Zones now entering a second act, the tax and structuring landscape for CRE has evolved. In this episode of CRE Exchange, Cole Perry and Omar Eltorai sit down with Lisa Knee, Managing Partner of Real Estate Services at EisnerAmper, to unpack what has changed. Lisa shares her knowledge on which OB3 provisions are impacting deals a year later, walks through the mechanics of Opportunity Zones 2.0, including the adjustment to a permanent program with rolling five-year deferrals, and discusses what she’s seeing in fund formation as investors demand more transparency and standardized reporting.

Key moments

• 01:18 Lisa’s role at Eisner Amper
• 08:56 OB3 tax bill impacts
• 14:00 Opportunity Zones 2.0 overview
• 24:19 Avoiding QOF structuring pitfalls
• 33:50 AI capital and city revivals
• 36:21 Outlook on the next 12 months
• 38:00 Where to follow Lisa
• 38:43 One industry change wish

Resources mentioned

• Lisa Knee – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaknee/
• OZ 2.0 Guidebook - https://www.eisneramper.com/insights/real-estate/transitional-guidance-on-qualified-opportunity-zones-0826/

Treasuries moved up, spreads continued to compress, and office financing costs kept improving; that's the Q2 2026 story in broad strokes, though the drama is in the details. In this episode of CRE Exchange, Cole Perry and Omar Eltorai sit down with Andrew Pabon, Altus Group's Director of Debt Advisory, to break down what the Q2 Debt Capital Markets Survey is showing. SOFR has effectively bottomed while five and ten-year Treasuries moved up 20 to 30 basis points, spread compression continued but fell short of fully offsetting those benchmark moves on fixed-rate products, and deal structuring conversations have fully repriced to a higher-for-longer world. The episode also covers a split signal in CMBS delinquency data, what the private credit stress story might mean for private CRE credit, and why office's improving financing picture comes with an important caveat.

Key moments

00:56 Market backdrop

03:08 Q2 survey shift

07:50 Rates and curve moves

11:24 Spread compression

15:26 Property type signals

19:02 Banks and lender mix

22:09 Post survey changes

23:15 Credit stress readthrough

26:15 Survey Invitation Wrap

Resources mentioned

Andrew Pabon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-pabon-15a6976/

Debt Capital Market Survey - https://www.altusgroup.com/featured-insights/cre-debt-capital-markets-survey-registration/

Capital is rotating, the line between real estate and infrastructure is blurring, and the deals getting done today look different from those of even three years ago. In this episode of CRE Exchange, Omar Eltorai sits down with Tim Bodner, who leads PwC's US and global real estate deals practice, to discuss the firm's 2026 midyear CRE outlook. They cover the real assets convergence thesis, why operational prowess is replacing cap rate compression as the primary value driver, where REIT consolidation goes from here, and how private capital is redefining the dealmaking landscape.

Key moments

• 02:10 Midyear outlook key shifts
• 03:35 Real assets convergence
• 07:18 Operating prowess and AI
• 09:07 VCs owning hard assets
• 10:56 Where AI gets used today
• 13:50 Industry bifurcation and new entrants
• 18:09 REIT discounts and consolidation
• 24:26 Private capital and capital solutions
• 28:27 Themes for the back half of 2026
• 29:51 Policy uncertainty and data centers
• 31:06 Lightning round and wrap

Resources mentioned

Tim Bodner - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timbodner/

Navigating the capital rotation and AI-driven convergence reshaping real estate and real assets dealmaking - https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/financial-services/library/asset-wealth-management-real-estate-deals-outlook.html

The latest CRE Exchange covers a packed week of data and market. Cole Perry and Omar Eltorai work through the June CPI print, consumer credit pullback, and existing home sales data before digging into the WSJ economist survey and Fed meeting minutes, where the most notable detail is a credit market splitting between large and small borrowers. The episode closes with early Q2 bank earnings from the four largest US banks, including reserve releases on office CRE loans at Bank of America and Wells Fargo that suggest the office credit cycle may be turning, and lender scrutiny around data center financing may be growing.

Key moments

01:50 Inflation hedge data

03:13 Patriotic owners trivia

06:57 Consumer credit update

08:56 Housing and CPI prints

12:31 WSJ Economist Survey

22:59 Fed minutes breakdown

29:34 Big bank earnings takeaways

36:23 New segment: CRE Bag O’ Random!

42:38 Upcoming Calendar and Wrap

Resources mentioned

Consumer Credit — G.19 (May 2026) - https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/default.htm

Existing Home Sales — June 2026 - https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-existing-home-sales-report-shows-2-4-decrease-in-june

Consumer Price Index — June 2026 - https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

WSJ Economist Survey — July 2026 - https://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-forecasting-survey-archive-11617814998

FOMC Meeting Minutes — June 16–17, 2026 - https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20260617.htm

Massachusetts YIGBY Bill — H.5562 - https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5562

The first half of 2026 opened with a soft-landing story and closed with reignited inflation, sub-2% growth, and a hawkish Fed. In this midyear episode of CRE Exchange, Cole Perry and Omar Eltorai work through what did happen: four straight Fed holds, consumer confidence at its lowest in the survey's 70-plus year history, and a frozen housing market.

Omar follows with the public markets story, where REITs returned nearly 14%, and REIT M&A is on pace for its most active year in a decade, even as private CRE remained in a gradual recovery mode. The episode closes with original Altus Group research on implied versus realized growth in CRE: when buyers price in growth at acquisition, does that growth actually materialize? And does it protect value?

Key moments:

• 01:29 Midyear economy recap
• 02:08 Growth and inflation shocks
• 04:06 Consumer and labor check
• 06:56 Housing and construction trends
• 08:30 Fed holds and rate reality
• 10:14 Public markets snapshot
• 11:50 Credit and data center capital
• 14:12 Rates macro and REIT rally
• 19:04 Fresh labor and construction prints
• 23:22 Implied vs realized growth research
• 29:41 How to access our in-depth research

For their 100th episode, Cole Perry and Omar Eltorai cover three topics relevant to the CRE landscape right now. First, a new Fed era: Kevin Warsh's first meeting signaled less transparency, five active policy task forces, and markets now pricing in one to two rate hikes by year's end. Second, the Road to Housing Act has cleared both chambers (but a presidential signing is now in question after Trump canceled the ceremony pending passage of a separate voter ID bill). The episode breaks down what the institutional SFR ban, the build-to-rent provisions, and the supply-side reforms mean for investors if and when it becomes law. Third, Omar shares findings from forthcoming research re-examining whether CRE actually functions as an inflation hedge, and where the data says it does and doesn't hold up.

Key moments

01:31 Fed holds and policy shift

07:37 ROAD to Housing Act bill timeline

10:44 What the bill changes

13:19 CRE winners and losers

17:20 Housing data pullback

21:07 Retail sales snapshot

23:34 Is CRE an inflation hedge?

33:31 Where to find our inflation hedge research

Resources mentioned

ROAD to Housing Act: https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/bill_text_of_the_21st_century_road_to_housing_act.pdf

FOMC meeting: https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20260318.htm