Trying to summarize the present and near future of net lease is complicated and difficult because of the complex interaction with other markets, says Chris Lomuto, associate vice president in Northmarq's San Francisco region.

"It's a very interconnected ecosystem of tenants and buyers and sellers and lenders and consumers," Lomuto told GlobeSt.com. Net lease activity and pricing have depended heavily on other areas of CRE, like 1031 exchanges by multifamily property owners, unlike some other property types.

To understand where net lease is now, it's important to pinpoint what it typically is and how it got to its status a few years ago. Although the category can include many things — retail, fast food, pharmacies, big box stores, industrial, medical healthcare, and even some single-tenant offices — most in the industry mean single-tenant with an emphasis on retail or industrial.