As experts wonder whether there will or won't be a recession, CRE investors try to discern what categories will be, if not absolutely safe, then relatively so, losing as little value as possible. Morningstar puts its bet on multifamily and says it "should remain more stable than other commercial property types such as office, which are facing significant headwinds."

Not that all is well. During 2020 to 2023, as part of the pandemic, there was a "short window" during which "especially strong fundamentals" and "a very accommodating cost of capital" drove popularity of the property type. The result of the interest were "record transaction volume and impressive value appreciation."

The good times were not to continue, as everyone in the industry knows. "The frenzy ended up being short lived and contributed to the broader economy's overheating and excessive inflation, pushing the consumer price index (CPI) to increase by 9.1% in June 2022," the Morningstar report said. "To combat runaway inflation, the Fed stepped in with an aggressive rate hiking program, pushing interest rates from near 0% to 5.5%."