Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody's Analytics and founder of Economy.com told more than 1,000 attendees of NAIOP's CRE.Converge conference taking place in Miami Beach, Florida, that while the pandemic is altering the U.S. economy, changes in store bode well for commercial real estate. 

On the positive side, the economy has recovered 17 million of the 22 million jobs that were lost due to the pandemic. The policy response on the part of the Federal Reserve, Congress and the White House, including maintaining low short- and long-term interest rates, the CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan, have collectively kept the economy from failing.

"I'm assuming that the pandemic is going to continue to wind down, and that with each new wave the disruptions to the economy will be less significant. Over the course of the next 18-24 months, the pandemic doesn't go away but it largely fades away in terms of what it means in terms of our work and lives."