CRE performance metrics will likely continue to improve this year, though analysts caution the recovery will remain bifurcated.  Research from Moody's Analytics shows that while industrial will remain steady and multifamily family rents and vacancies will turn around in the short term, the future of office, retail, and some hotel subtypes is uncertain. 

"Within specific sectors there is chatter about repurposing space: flex/R&D industrial space for life-science companies, with office space for hybrid workers; industrial space devoted to data warehousing; with companies like Convene and even WeWork positioning themselves as monetizing what has traditionally been considered a 'fixed asset' by finding alternative uses," the report notes.

While multifamily performance metrics were slightly negative in Q1, "it is quite likely that the worst is over for the multifamily sector," the report notes. "There is evidence from real-time data points coming in that year-over-year rent growths for new leases are up by over 5%—a tail that will likely wag the dog of the overall market with increasing momentum over the remainder of 2021."