Transaction volumes are off. Yields are on the rise. And property company share prices have been punished. But for the moment few seem willing to utter the “D” word — for distress — citing continued demand from a diverse pool of buyers and healthy fundamentals as strong underpinnings for the investment market. It looks like a healthy pullback … for the moment.

Perhaps optimism and intestinal fortitude are the stealth ingredients necessary for success in this business. But along with any standard issue rose-coloured glasses, another key component in the current investment environment appears to be equity. Fortunately, there seem to be no lack of any of these, and this has kept the investment market bumping along even though it bears little resemblance to the climate enjoyed prior to the summer of 2007.

We certainly don’t lack for disturbing headlines. The short-term commercial paper market, the lifeblood of global corporations, is in varying states