Uncertainty about the state of the economy and the real estate sector has helped push down the CRE finance industry's outlook for the sector in the coming quarter, as revealed by a recent survey of the views of senior executives. An election year doesn't help.

Their views, reported in the 2Q 2024 Sentiment Index Survey of the Board of Governors of the CRE Finance Council, showed a 3% drop in the index from the previous quarter from 105.4 to 102.4. "This change reflects growing caution in the economic outlook and the ongoing impacts of higher interest rates," the report commented.

It identified growing pessimism about economic performance, with 35% of respondents expecting a weaker outlook, just 11% offered more of a positive view, and 54% were neutral.