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CRE Finance Council to Host Annual Conference in New York This June

May 14, 2026

Industry conference features Colin Jost, Spencer Levy, Julie Ingersoll, and Allie K. Miller as keynote speakers

NEW YORK, NY — May 14, 2026 — The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) will bring together once again the commercial real estate finance industry’s foremost leaders at its Annual Conference, taking place June 8–10, 2026, in New York City. Widely recognized as the largest gathering of senior CRE finance leaders, the event features three days of timely market insights, high-value networking, and forward-looking discussion.

As the recognized voice of the commercial real estate finance industry, CREFC represents lenders, investors, servicers, issuers, and the full range of professionals powering the commercial real estate debt markets. CREFC plays a vital role in shaping industry standards, delivering trusted research and data, providing education, and advocating for policy and regulatory issues critical to market participants and the industry.

CREFC’s Annual Conference provides an opportunity for candid, real-time dialogue among industry leaders. Attendees will gain perspective from senior executives whose experience spans multiple market cycles, offering clarity on the forces shaping commercial real estate assets and the commercial real estate debt markets.

“CREFC’s Annual Conference comes at a pivotal moment for commercial real estate finance,” said Lisa Pendergast, President and CEO of CREFC. “This is where the industry comes together to exchange insights and better understand how evolving market dynamics are influencing CRE investment, lending, and servicing strategies. There is simply no substitute for being in the room.”

In addition to CREFC’s seven industry-sector forum sessions, the conference will feature a robust lineup of sessions addressing the most pressing issues facing the industry, including:

• In the Thick of It: Downstream Impact on the Servicer Playbook
• Borrower Perspectives: CRE Market Realities and Opportunities
• Disrupting the Debt Market: Private Credit’s Expanding Role in CRE
• Modernizing Securitization: Key Developments to Watch
• Government Impact on the Business of CRE and Its Asset Classes
• Industry Leaders Roundtable

The program will also feature four high-profile keynote speakers offering distinct perspectives on leadership, innovation, markets, and change.

• Colin Jost, co-anchor of Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” and host of Netflix’s new season of Pop Culture Jeopardy!, will deliver a keynote session blending humor, storytelling, and audience engagement. A longtime SNL writer and performer, Jost brings a unique lens on culture, communication, and current events shaped by his career in comedy and media.
• Spencer Levy, Global Client Strategist and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE, and Julie Ingersoll, Chief Investment Officer, Americas Direct for CBRE Investment Management, will open the conference with a keynote on the state of the market. Levy and Ingersoll will share perspectives on transaction volumes, cap rate movements, and where opportunities are emerging amid today’s complex financing landscape.
• Allie K. Miller, CEO of Open Machine and a leading AI advisor to Fortune 500 companies, will present a keynote focused on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence across industries. Her session will provide a practical AI-first playbook, helping organizations move from experimentation to meaningful implementation across strategy, operations, and decision-making.
  

Pendergast added, “From the continued evolution of private credit to the role of technology and policy in shaping our markets, this year’s program reflects the full breadth of issues influencing the commercial real estate finance industry. CREFC has always been defined by the strength and engagement of its members, and this event reflects that spirit.”

In addition to its programming, the Annual Conference will recognize outstanding contributions to the industry and the association made by CREFC members. CREFC will present its Founders, Woman of Distinction, and ‘20 Under 40’ awards, celebrating leadership, innovation, and the next generation of talent in commercial real estate finance. The organization will also announce its new Board leadership, including members of its Executive Committee and Board.

Event Details:
When: June 8-10, 2025

Where: New York Marriott Marquis |1535 Broadway |New York, NY 10036

Program:

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
  

Contact:
Mary Beth Ryan
Senior Director, Communications
646-884-7567
mryan@crefc.org

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Statement from CREFC President & CEO Lisa Pendergast Regarding Kevin Warsh’s Confirmation as Federal Reserve Chair

May 13, 2026

NEW YORK, NY — May 13, 2026 — The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) issued the following statement from Lisa Pendergast, President and CEO, on the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as Chair of the Federal Reserve:

“CREFC congratulates Kevin Warsh on his confirmation to lead the Federal Reserve. Chair Warsh brings valuable perspective at a critical moment for the U.S. economy. We look forward to working with him and policymakers to advance policies that promote a resilient and healthy commercial real estate finance system. 

Strong, transparent leadership at the Fed is essential to maintaining market stability and supporting economic growth. Federal Reserve policy has a significant and direct impact on commercial real estate finance, influencing interest rates, liquidity, prudential standards for lenders, and the availability of capital across CRE lending and securitization markets.”

Contact:
Mary Beth Ryan
Senior Director, Communications
646-884-7567
mryan@crefc.org

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Economy, the Fed, and Rates…

May 12, 2026

Economic Data & Labor Market

• April payrolls beat, but the labor signal is uneven. Employers added 115k jobs in April, versus 65k in the Bloomberg consensus and 55k in the WSJ consensus. March reading was revised up to 185k, while February was revised down to a 156k loss. The unrounded unemployment rate ticked up to 4.34% from 4.26%, U-6 rose to 8.2%, and participation fell to 61.8%, the lowest since October 2021. The headline says resilience; the internals say caution.
• Hiring broadened, with freight doing much of the work. Healthcare and social assistance added 54k, transportation and warehousing 30k, retail 22k, and couriers/messengers nearly 38k, the largest gain since 2020. Bloomberg Economics sees the freight gain as evidence of stronger industrial momentum. Still, some of it likely reflects oil exports, rerouting, inventory hedging, and trade adjustment rather than a clean cyclical reacceleration.
• Information-sector losses remain the clearest AI-adjacent warning. Information employment fell for a 16th straight month and is down ~342k, or 11%, from its November 2022 peak. The packet does not prove AI is the sole driver, but tech-sector cuts and information-sector weakness remain where labor substitution is most visible.
• Consumer sentiment is the recession-looking data point. Preliminary May UMich sentiment fell to 48.2 from 49.8, a fresh record low. Current conditions hit their lowest level on record, and consumers’ view of their current financial situation fell to the lowest since 2009. One-year inflation expectations eased to 4.5% and 5-to-10-year expectations to 3.4%, but both remain elevated.
• Productivity helps, but does not solve inflation. 1Q productivity rose 0.8% annualized and 2.9% YoY, the strongest annual pace since 2024. Unit labor costs rose 2.3%. The labor share of nonfarm business output fell to 54.1%, the lowest in the series dating back to 1947. Inflation pressure points include energy, imports, freight, and pass-throughs, not wages overheating.

Federal Reserve Policy & the Warsh Transition

• The payroll report keeps the Fed focused on inflation. April hiring was strong enough to remove the urgency to cut. Money-market pricing now implies the Fed stays on hold through year-end 2026, with some hedging for a possible 2027 hike. The next test is April CPI, with Bloomberg Economics expecting 0.6% MoM headline, 3.7% YoY headline, 0.4% MoM core, and 2.7% YoY core.
• The FOMC’s easing bias is under attack. Logan, Hammack, and Kashkari dissented from the April 29 statement language, suggesting the next move would more likely be a cut. Hammack called that language “a little bit misleading.” Collins, a non-voter, agreed the statement should be more agnostic and said she would strongly consider a hike if inflation moved materially in the wrong direction.
• Warsh inherits a harder committee than markets initially priced. Warsh may prefer easier policy and balance-sheet reform, but he will face a visible hawkish bloc if he chairs the June 16-17 meeting. Bloomberg Intelligence’s practical point: Warsh will need time and persuasion before cuts become viable.
• Goldman moved its first cut to December 2026. Goldman pushed expected Fed cuts to December 2026 and March 2027, delayed by one quarter, because energy pass-through is likely to keep core PCE closer to 3% than 2% through year-end. Goldman lowered its 12-month recession probability to 25% from 30%, still above its 20% pre-war estimate.
• The global central-bank split is widening. Norway delivered a surprise 25 bp hike, its first since 2023, and Australia has hiked at three consecutive meetings. The Fed is not Norway or Australia, but the G10 backdrop makes a simple “Warsh cuts quickly” story harder to defend.

Treasury Yields & Bond Markets

• Treasuries ended mixed, not in a clean selloff. Per Bloomberg Friday closes, the 2-year was flat on the week at 3.88%, the 10-year down 2 bps to 4.35%, and the 30-year also down 2 bps to 4.93%. The 30-year briefly broke above 5% earlier in the week before duration buyers stepped in. It remains only 16 bps below its 52-week high.
• The curve message is less panicked, not easier. The front end remains elevated because cuts are not imminent; the long end eased because buyers stepped in near 5%, and oil slipped. For CRE, a 10-year at 4.35% still keeps fixed-rate financing costs elevated.
• CPI and refunding are the next rate tests. Bloomberg Economics expects another hot headline CPI print, with gasoline up another 7% after March’s 21% increase. Treasury also has a heavy auction schedule: $58B of 3-year notes, $42B of 10-year notes, and $25B of 30-year bonds.

Dollar, Commodities & Market Dynamics

• Equities keep looking through the shock as earnings and AI dominate. The S&P 500 closed at a record and posted its sixth straight weekly gain; the Nasdaq Composite logged its 11th record close of 2026. Roughly 82% of S&P 500 companies have beaten 1Q profit estimates, and chipmakers rose 11% on the week.
• Oil eased, but Hormuz still controls the macro tape. WTI closed Friday at $95, down on the week, while Brent was near $100 in the Bloomberg Briefs snapshot. The U.S. and Iran are working through mediators on a framework for talks, but fresh clashes near Hormuz show the ceasefire path remains fragile.
• Inflation pressure is broadening beyond crude. The UN food-price index rose 1.6% in April to its highest level in more than three years. Bloomberg Economics expects April PPI to be 0.6% MoM and 4.9% YoY, with transportation and warehousing the largest core contributor, driven by diesel, jet fuel, and stronger freight activity. Import prices are expected to rise 0.9%, with ex-petroleum up 0.6%.

CRE Finance Market Implications

• Floating-rate borrowers have less near-term hope. Markets now price the Fed on hold through year-end 2026, and Goldman pushed its first expected cut to December 2026. That delays SOFR relief for bridge and transitional loans.
• Inflation is hitting CRE through freight, fuel, and construction inputs. Expected April PPI strength in transportation and warehousing, import-price pressure, food-cost increases, and energy-linked materials all flow into operating expenses and development budgets.
• Data centers remain strongest CRE demand engine, but the benefit is narrow. AI-linked spending supports data centers, power, equipment, and logistics demand. But broader CRE does not automatically share in that capital-market tailwind; non-data-center development and transitional deals still face selective lenders, higher coupons, and tougher refinancing math.

You can download CREFC's one-page MarketMetrics, which includes statistics covering the economy and the CRE debt capital markets, here.

Contact Raj Aidasani (raidasani@crefc.org) with any questions.

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