MIAMI—Five years ago, it seemed the commercial real estate sky literally was falling. Today, confidence is U.S. commercial real estate is rising. That's the major takeaway from a new Akerman LLP survey of top 200 CEOs, CFO, COOs and other top national real estate executives serving clients across the Americas.

Specifically, the Akerman Real Estate Industry Outlook Survey used the words “new heights” to describe the rise of investor and lender confidence in US commercial real estate. Unveiled at the fifth annual Akerman U.S. Real Estate Summit, the survey shows domestic investors have a stronger appetite for real estate assets than in recent years. What's more, capital availability from a wide range of equity sources also is expected to improve in 2014. Increased activity by institutional forces is a highlight of the survey findings.

"We developed the Akerman Real Estate Industry Outlook Survey after the real estate downturn to help our clients better understand and anticipate changes in the market," says Richard Bezold, chair of Akerman's real estate practice group. "In conjunction with the Akerman US Real Estate Summit, the survey provides real estate leaders with valuable data and insights on new market trends and investment opportunities, and overall confidence levels."