2021 is finally here and although everyone is ready to move on to a post-COVID world, headwinds abound. The vaccine rollout has been slower than most would like and unemployment figures still don’t paint the prettiest of pictures, even though there has been a substantial improvement compared to the beginning of the pandemic. However, expectations of more government support and stimulus is giving people reason to be cautiously optimistic – the World Bank projects that U.S. GDP will expand by 3.5% in 2021 – with the incoming administrations proposed $1.9Tr stimulus package taking center stage.
From our conversations with market participants (lenders, LP’s, Sponsors etc.) sentiment and strategies have not changed. Lenders will continue to be conservative, especially with development projects, and investors are either trying to maintain some stability in their portfolio or looking to capitalize on some of the distress in the market.
