What happened, and who moved.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.41% in May 2026, up 7 basis points from April and 36 basis points since the Middle East conflict began, while the 15-year rate averaged 5.76%, also up 7 basis points monthly as elevated inflation and rising energy prices pushed the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.47%. Persistently high inflation strained household budgets, causing the personal saving rate to fall to 2.6% in April, the lowest level since June 2022.

Construction job openings in the United States increased slightly from 234,000 in March to 259,000 in April 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, with the construction job openings rate rising to 3% in April from 2.4% a year prior. The article notes that while overall economy job openings surged to 7.62 million in April, construction openings remain measurably lower than three years ago due to declines in housing construction activity, though recent nonresidential construction gains have provided some offset.

Private residential construction spending increased 0.8% in April 2026, driven primarily by gains in single-family and home improvement spending, with total private residential construction spending 1.7% higher than April 2025. Single-family construction spending rose 1.4% monthly but declined 2.9% year-over-year, while remodeling spending increased 0.4% monthly and was up 7.5% year-over-year, whereas multifamily construction spending edged down 0.3% in April but remained 1.1% higher than a year earlier.
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At its June 2026 meeting, the Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate steady at 3.50% to 3.75% under new Chair Kevin Warsh, who signaled a shift away from forward guidance toward allowing markets to price information independently, while the Summary of Economic Projections revised near-term inflation upward to 3.6% and the funds rate path to 3.8% without changing longer-run benchmarks. For commercial real estate, the meeting implies a slower return to rate relief in the near term despite unchanged long-run policy destinations, while Warsh announced five task forces to review Fed communications, balance sheet management, data collection, productivity, and inflation frameworks by year-end.
In Q1 2026, the largest banks (those with assets above $100 billion) saw commercial real estate delinquency rates decline sharply from approximately 1.9% to 1.5%, reflecting resolution of concentrated distressed office loans, while regional and community banks in the $16 to $40 billion asset range experienced the largest increases in delinquency rates. The divergence between largest and smaller banks mirrors patterns seen during the Global Financial Crisis, though at significantly lower magnitudes, with current median delinquency rates outside the top tier remaining below 1% compared to peaks near 4% during the GFC.

Harrison Street announced the sale of Oak Brook Commons, an 81,522 square foot Class A medical office property in Oak Brook, Illinois, as part of its healthcare real estate strategy.

TPG and Peppertree leadership discuss digital infrastructure investment opportunities, particularly in wireless tower development and connectivity, following TPG's acquisition of Peppertree.

Fannie Mae provided approximately $74 billion of multifamily financing in 2025, up 34 percent year over year, including more than $8.3 billion in affordable housing and $1.9 billion in manufactured housing, marking its largest annual multifamily volume since 2020.
Heitman announced the final close of Heitman Value Partners Fund VI with 2.6 billion dollars in commitments, providing roughly 6.55 billion dollars of dealmaking capital across medical office, student housing, senior housing, self storage, multifamily and industrial assets.
Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased 53.4 billion dollars, or 1.1 percent, to 4.93 trillion dollars at the end of the third quarter of 2025. Multifamily mortgage debt alone rose 40.3 billion dollars to 2.24 trillion dollars.

Moody's reported the national office vacancy rate rising to 20.7 percent in Q2 2025, a record high for the sixth consecutive quarter, reflecting continued deterioration in space market fundamentals.

CRED iQ records the CMBS distress rate climbing back to 11 percent, ending three consecutive monthly reductions as maturity pressures persist.

Blackstone President and COO Jon Gray argues the conditions are in place for a strong dealmaking environment in 2025, including in real estate, which he sees continuing on a path of recovery alongside infrastructure investment opportunities.