Institutional capital may have stepped to the sidelines duringthe pandemic, but private capital groups are still actively buying.In many ways, it is open season for private buyers to capitalize ondiscounted pricing and a less competitive bidding environment.Kevin Shannon of Newmark KnightFrank has seen this trend unfold in recent months.

"Because private sales tend be between $5 million and $30million, it poses more of an opportunity for PCGs to partner withlocal banks, who are still active. Overall, sales velocity in thelast two months has slowed, which, in turn, limited the amount oftrade buyer activity," Shannon, co-head of U.S. capital markets atNewmark Knight Frank, tells GlobeSt.com.

So far, private capital hasn't been picky. Shannon has seendemand for office, multifamily, biotech, medical office andindustrial product since the onset of the pandemic. "Core retail,particularly when anchored by a major grocer, is also getting theattention of family office capital," he says.