Mark Forbes, head of real estate for City National Bank, said, “Any pullback we're feeling is around market uncertainty.” Edwards commented that the gap is narrowing, and everybody is chasing down long-term debt as interest rates begin to rise.

Zuckerman asked, if debt funds are getting into construction lending, are they able to charge more fees? Edwards said pricing for construction lending—rates and fees, plus exit fees—is rising and that pricing has changed dramatically in the last few years.

Forbes said his firm is a relationship bank and there has been no change in underwriting, but Ronen said the banks are definitely doing a deeper dive.

Zuckerman asked how selectivity of lenders has affected borrowers' access to the panelists' firms' product lines. Ronen said, “I always advise clients to have three good relationship lenders to find the right capital for the right deal because lending criteria change.” He added that the sale process has lengthened, so borrowers need to start the process earlier and spend time creating those relationships.

Zuckerman asked, with more people chasing the same deals and chasing yield, how do the panelists feel about appraisals? Edwards said, “Everyone has horror stories about appraisals,” but having a list of approve appraisers helps. She added that the firm is operating mostly in primary and secondary markets.

Ronen said his firm is not averse to doing legwork and research to try to guide clients as best it can “because people are busy.”

Zuckerman asked about locations where there is more opportunity in the market, and Ronen said his firm likes secondary markets better than primary since there are more likely to be some areas of undersupply to present more opportunities. Regarding urban versus suburban markets, Edwards said this is a micro-market discussion, but with many urban markets being so expensive, the suburbs often make sense.