Investors are most bullish on the industrial sector as 2021 marches on, followed by the self-storage and multifamily sectors, according to a recent survey of 500 commercial real estate investors by Marcus & Milichap.

Investors were asked to consider only the property in their current real estate portfolio in answering whether they expect property values to increase, decrease, or remain the same in 12 months, according to Marcus & Millichap senior vice president and director of research services John Chang in a recent video. The survey examined the apartment, hotel, industrial, office, retail, self-storage and senior housing sectors and grouped results into three primary clusters: momentum investments, recovery investments, and uncertainty investments.

Multifamily, industrial, and self-storage property types comprised the first cluster of momentum investments, which investors expect will maintain low vacancy rates and high rent collections. Sixty-four percent of apartment investors, 72% of industrial investors, and 71% of self-storage investors expect values to rise this year. Of those sectors, industrial had the highest investor outlook, with a 8.2% average increase in expected value and pricing, followed by self-storage at 6.5% and multifamily, which has stabilized significantly since the fourth quarter of 2020, at 5.2%.