People in CRE — and in businesses and governments and neighborhoods as well — have wondered when enough would be enough for the disaster of the overall office market.

CBRE said that the office sector may be beginning to stabilize, although the start — reaching true bottom— won't happen until 2025. The company pointed to Q2 positive net absorption, which hit 2.5 million square feet, for the first time in two years. It added that the trailing four-quarter trend was also "moving in the right direction."

Then why talk about 2025? Because more has to happen, including pain. Investors aren't going to change their strategies or decisions and invest more money based on a single quarter of data. Another 33.5 million square feet of inventory is expected to be completed through 2026.