Midyear is a good time to reflect on the six months past and those upcoming. If two words define the first half, it would be speculation and uncertainty, these in the midst of the ongoing economic upheaval and the Federal Reserve's movement to curb inflation. 

But after 10 consecutive interest rate hikes over the course of 15 months, the Fed in June took a breather, the reported response to an ailing economy at last responding to treatment. It is too much to assume yet that the Fed's action–or happy lack of it this month–means that inflation has peaked and not just plateaued and that our months of market uncertainty are a thing of the past.

The market has endured a cap rate expansion of 60 basis points (bps) in recent months, the result mostly of the Fed's actions, and at least two more rate hikes, another 25 bps, have been forecast. The expectation now is that cap rates will continue to expand for the short term (a totally subjective measure), peak later this year and normalize in 2024. And with a path to normalization comes hope.