Coming out of the pandemic, it seemed buyers and sellers might never meet in the middle again. Transactions ground to a halt as interest rates rose, prompting investors to re-run the maths on deals that might have worked under old assumptions, but no longer did.

Now, with interest rates in many markets falling, and investment mandates to meet, the deal flow is resuming. On the bid-ask spread and pricing there is, if not capitulation, at least accommodation.

Asking prices are coming down across the board. “The narrowing of the bid-ask spread is largely due to sellers making concessions,” says John Ockerbloom, head of US and European real estate at Barings. “Buyers have been rightfully cautious about making purchases until there’s more certainty around the direction of policy rates.”

With US and European rates moving moderately lower, confidence has risen. “Given that there remains plenty of cash on the sidelines, we believe transaction volumes will bo