Even by the standards of the past few years, 2022 came with some sucker punches and some surprises we could hardly have anticipated. The year was ushered in with a massive new wave of COVID that seemed to evade previous immunity, though it thankfully also turned out to be less deadly than previous waves. A month later, in February, Russia invaded Ukraine, starting the first full-scale war on European soil since 1945 and leading to consequences on a global scale, from a shortage of grain in Africa and the Middle East to spiking energy prices in Europe. In March, the U.S. Federal Reserve began raising its key interest rate to battle inflation not seen in decades, and has now done so seven times in 2022, with more rates likely to come next year.
We have seen unprecedented mass protests against oppression of women in Iran and equally extraordinary mass protests against harsh COVID lockdowns in China. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In November, some of the consequences of that decision became clear, as Americans did not deliver widely-expected large Republican majorities in either the House or the Senate.
The changes in the wider world were echoed by the changes in the commercial real estate market. Multifamily rent growth finally started to slow down, as inflation limited tenants’ ability to pay higher rents. Real estate economists started thinking about the rising risks of a recession and how the industry can safeguard itself against them. Investors adjusted their strategies to deal with rapidly rising interest rates and softening property fundamentals. And throughout the year, we used our galleries to reflect these key industry trends.
In the following slides, you can see some of our top galleries of 2022.