There's been a lot of multifamily distress that has become obvious. Heated development in many metros, typically in the Sun Belt, has resulted in more inventory than expected, increased vacancy rates, and declining rents. Then increased costs of operations have driven down net operating income.

But, as always, averages are deceptive, and different parts of the country see markedly dissimilar conditions. CBRE's biannual cap rate survey for multifamily asked market participants to forecast cap rates over the next six months.

The report provides two big takeaways. One, most respondents expect cap rates to at least remain flat or to decline somewhat, suggesting a market turning around or, as the report put it, the response might suggest an "inflection point."