France Media 2025 Forecast Survey for Lenders

Welcome to Our Annual Survey

Dear Commercial Real Estate Lender or Financial Intermediary,

The editors of France Media are conducting a brief online survey to assess the commercial real estate outlook for the coming year. We welcome your participation in our 14th annual forecast survey, which should only take a few minutes to complete. The questions focus on your company's business specialty, property sectors that you are most bullish on heading into 2025, trends in deal volume, the movement of interest rates and the outlook on the office sector, among other topics.

We’re also sending separate surveys to leasing and investment sales brokers as well as developers, owners and managers. The results will be compiled and published in the January issues of our regional magazines. Conducting these surveys is part of our mission at France Media to provide readers with indispensable information, and we couldn't do it without your help.

(Note: Please remember to click on "done" to properly submit the survey.)

Sincerely,

Matt Valley
Editorial Director, Real Estate Regionals
France Media, Inc.

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* 1. In which region of the country do you personally conduct most of your business? (Answer required to allow France Media to place responses in the appropriate regional publication.)

Southeast (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.)

Northeast (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont)

Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin)

Western U.S. (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming)

Texas and Oklahoma

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* 2. Which of the following best describes your company? (Please mark all that apply)

Agency Lender /(GSEs)

Community Bank

Regional Bank

National Commercial Bank

Life Insurance Company

Mezzanine Lender

Mortgage Broker, Financial Intermediary

Other (please specify)

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* 3. Check the box that best describes your job title:

President, Owner, Partner, Chairman of the Board, CEO

Chief Financial Officer, Chief Investment Officer

Real Estate Manager, Finance Manager, Other Manager Including General Manager

Banker, Investment Banker, Mortgage Banker/Broker, Portfolio Manager, Financial Investment Analyst

Other (please specify)

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* 4. Do you expect the total dollar amount of commercial and multifamily loans closed by your firm in 2025 to increase, decrease or remain the same compared with the level of activity in 2024?

Increase

Decrease

Stay the same

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* 5. If increase, by how much?

0% to 5%

6% to 10%

11% to 15%

16% to 20%

More than 20%

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* 6. If decrease, by how much?

0% to 5%

6% to 10%

11% to 15%

16% to 20%

More than 20%

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* 7. What property sector(s) do you believe provide the most attractive financing opportunities for lenders today? (Multiple answers permitted)

Hotel

Industrial

Multifamily

Office

Retail

Mixed-use

Other (please specify)

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* 8. What property sector(s) do you believe provide the least attractive financing opportunities for lenders today? (Multiple answers permitted)

Hotel

Industrial

Multifamily

Office

Retail

Mixed-use

Other (please specify)

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* 9. What is your projection for total domestic CMBS issuance in 2025?

Less than $40 billion

$40 billion to $49 billion

$50 billion to $59 billion

$60 billion to $69 billion

$70 billion to $79 billion

$80 billion to $89 billion

$90 billion to $99 billion

$100 billion to $109 billion

$110 billion to $119 billion

$120 billion and above

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* 10. What loan type will make up the bulk of lending activity at your firm in 2025?

Construction financing

Acquisition financing

Refinancing Activity

Other (please specify)

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* 11. Do you expect interest rates to increase, decrease or remain relatively unchanged during the next 12 months?

Increase

Decrease

Remain Relatively Unchanged

Uncertain

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* 12. What is your best guess as to where the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield will stand at the end of 2025?

6.0% or higher

5.5%

5.0%

4.5%

4.0%

3.5%

3.0%

2.5%

2.0%

1.5% or lower

Uncertain

Question Title

* 13. Among the following property types, how do you think the volume of distressed properties in 2025 will compare to 2024?

	Increase significantly	Increase somewhat	Remain the same	Decrease somewhat	Decrease significantly	Uncertain
Industrial	Industrial Increase significantly	Industrial Increase somewhat	Industrial Remain the same	Industrial Decrease somewhat	Industrial Decrease significantly	Industrial Uncertain
Multifamily	Multifamily Increase significantly	Multifamily Increase somewhat	Multifamily Remain the same	Multifamily Decrease somewhat	Multifamily Decrease significantly	Multifamily Uncertain
Office	Office Increase significantly	Office Increase somewhat	Office Remain the same	Office Decrease somewhat	Office Decrease significantly	Office Uncertain
Retail	Retail Increase significantly	Retail Increase somewhat	Retail Remain the same	Retail Decrease somewhat	Retail Decrease significantly	Retail Uncertain

Question Title

* 14. What is your best guess as to how long it will be before office buildings in your market return to pre-pandemic utilization levels?

6 months

1 year

1.5 years

2 years

2.5 years

3 years or longer

Never

Uncertain

Question Title

* 15. Of all potential factors, which do you think will affect the commercial real estate industry the most in 2025?

Interest rates

Inflation

GDP/job growth

U.S. national debt

Geopolitical risk

U.S. political climate

Supply chain constraints

Rapidly changing technology

Labor availability/talent recruitment

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 16. The Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points in September and 25 basis points in November. How will this affect borrowers and lenders in the short run? (Please type in your comments here and include your name, job title, company name, phone number and email address so that we may follow up with you for additional information and/or attribute quotes to you if we include your comment in the article. You can also leave an anonymous comment.)

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* 17. What impact will Donald J. Trump’s re-election as president have on the commercial real estate industry in the near term? (Please type in your comments here and include your name, job title, company name, phone number and email address so that we may follow up with you for additional information and/or attribute quotes to you if we include your comment in the article. You can also leave an anonymous comment.)

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* 18. What do you see as the greatest opportunity and/or challenge for the commercial real estate industry in 2025? (Please type in your comments here and include your name, job title, company name, phone number and email address so that we may follow up with you for additional information and/or attribute quotes to you if we include your comment in the article. You can also leave an anonymous comment.)

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* 19. Can we reach out to you as a potential source for our follow-up analysis article of the survey results?

Yes

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* 1. In which region of the country do you personally conduct most of your business? (Answer required to allow France Media to place responses in the appropriate regional publication.)

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* 2. Which of the following best describes your company? (Please mark all that apply)

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* 3. Check the box that best describes your job title:

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* 4. Do you expect the total dollar amount of commercial and multifamily loans closed by your firm in 2025 to increase, decrease or remain the same compared with the level of activity in 2024?

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* 5. If increase, by how much?

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* 6. If decrease, by how much?

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* 7. What property sector(s) do you believe provide the most attractive financing opportunities for lenders today? (Multiple answers permitted)

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* 8. What property sector(s) do you believe provide the least attractive financing opportunities for lenders today? (Multiple answers permitted)

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* 9. What is your projection for total domestic CMBS issuance in 2025?

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* 10. What loan type will make up the bulk of lending activity at your firm in 2025?

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* 11. Do you expect interest rates to increase, decrease or remain relatively unchanged during the next 12 months?

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* 12. What is your best guess as to where the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield will stand at the end of 2025?

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* 13. Among the following property types, how do you think the volume of distressed properties in 2025 will compare to 2024?

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* 14. What is your best guess as to how long it will be before office buildings in your market return to pre-pandemic utilization levels?

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* 15. Of all potential factors, which do you think will affect the commercial real estate industry the most in 2025?

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* 19. Can we reach out to you as a potential source for our follow-up analysis article of the survey results?

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* 20. If yes, please leave your name, job title, company name and email address in the below text box.