Global commercial real estate is showing signs of recovery from the slowdown sparked by higher interest rates, and there are glimmers of good news emerging for investors, according to MSCI.

Sales of commercial property worldwide in the second quarter of 2024 almost matched the levels of the same period in 2023, says the index provider. Global transactions were down only 1 percent from the second quarter of 2023, says MSCI, with the Americas leading the improvement, registering 5 percent higher deal activity in the quarter. EMEA posted a 1 percent pace of growth, while Asia-Pacific still saw sales fall, but at a reduced rate compared with the initial waves of volume declines in 2022.

In a blog post, Jim Costello, executive director at MSCI Research, writes that global investment-sale activity suggests commercial real estate turned a corner in the second quarter of the year. “Deal volume was effectively unchanged from a year earlier, and price declines have generally m