What Three Days at CREFC Revealed About CRE Finance in 2026

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) Annual January Conference returned to Miami from January 11–14 with unmistakable momentum. Attendance reached a record 2,400 participants, making it the largest CREFC gathering to date—a milestone that set the tone for conversations about opportunity, competition, risk, and the shape of the next credit cycle. 

To capture the mood on the ground, Andy Garrett, SitusAMC Head of Marketing & Communications, sat down with Ji Won Sin, Senior Director, CRE Client Services, and Mike Benz, Managing Director, CRE Revenue, to discuss what surprised them most, what raised caution flags, and how lenders can best position themselves for the year ahead. 

A Market Re-Energized and Moving Fast 

Both Sin and Benz described the conference as notably more energized than recent years, marked by new market entrants and a renewed sense of urgency. 

“I was pleasantly surprised by how many participants there were—new issuers, new entrants, investors, and third-party groups supporting lenders,” Sin said. “It was probably the highest attendance I’ve seen since COVID, and the enthusiasm was higher than I expected.” 

Benz echoed that sentiment, calling it “the busiest and most positive event" he's attended in years. “What stood out to me was the excitement from balance-sheet banks,” he said. “CMBS has been active, private credit has been active, debt funds have been active—but banks have largely been on the sidelines for direct lending. Seeing true balance-sheet lenders energized about 2026 was a real moment." 

That enthusiasm, however, came with intensity. Sin noted a palpable sense of urgency driven by competition. “There’s a lot more capital chasing deals,” she said. “Speed of execution is critical. Lenders are going to have to review deals faster, close transactions faster, and have the right support in place. To win market share this year, you’re going to have to be aggressive.” 

Capital Abundance Plus a Note of Caution 

With optimism came a sober question: where will all the deals come from? 

“After hearing multiple groups say, ‘We’ve raised a billion’ or ‘We have $2 billion we need to put to work,’ a part of me wondered how quickly the market can absorb that capital,” Benz said. “At some point, to deploy that much money, people may need to take on more risk. What that looks like remains to be seen.” 

That tension—between abundant liquidity and disciplined underwriting—surfaced repeatedly in conversations across the conference. 

AI: Competitive Edge or Unrealistic Expectations? 

Artificial intelligence emerged as one of the most heavily discussed topics, though opinions varied on how, and how quickly, it should be deployed. “The focus wasn’t just on using AI, but on using it to gain a competitive edge," Sin noted. "That said, many lenders acknowledged they can’t do everything internally anymore—there’s simply too much volume and complexity.” 

Benz suggested that a tactical, incremental approach could snowball into bigger gains. “The winners are going to be the ones who apply AI to very specific problems,” he explained. “Trying to use AI holistically could get you into trouble. But if you fix a lot of small inefficiencies across processes, you end up solving a much bigger problem.” 

Sin highlighted a philosophical divide among market participants. “Some people believe that if AI can’t produce 100% accuracy, it’s useless,” she said. “Others believe that if AI can get you 80% of the way there and humans handle the final 20%, that’s incredibly powerful." 

Risk, the Maturity Wall and an Unexpected Theme 

Compared with prior years, discussions around distress were noticeably calmer. Sin observed that many lenders feel better positioned than they did in 2024 or 2025, when a significant portion of portfolios required extensions and modifications. 

“I heard more positive stories about foreclosures actually working,” she said. “Lenders are taking assets back, repositioning them and expecting positive outcomes. There’s much less anxiety around the maturity wall—it’s being viewed as an opportunity to modify, recapitalize and refinance.” 

Benz agreed, noting that talk of a looming maturity wall has persisted for nearly a decade. “It just keeps rolling forward. I didn’t hear much angst around refinancing risk.” 

One issue did surface repeatedly, however: fraud in multifamily lending. “That was the only negative theme I heard more than once,” Benz said. “Large multifamily lenders are trying to understand how to mitigate and ideally eliminate fraud in big transactions." Is fraud increasing, or are we just better at identifying it? "Probably a combination of both,” Benz added. 

Positioning for the Cycle Ahead 

When asked how lenders can best prepare for 2026, both panelists returned to a familiar but often under-executed principle: diversification. 

“The lenders that are most diversified—across products, structures, and strategies—will be best positioned,” Sin said. “Markets can change on a dime. Having fixed-rate and floating-rate products, short-term and long-term options, construction lending, back leverage—all of those tools keep lenders active regardless of market conditions.” 

Benz expanded the concept beyond balance sheets. “Diversification applies to portfolios, geography and teams,” he said. “The firms with deep benches—people who’ve lived through multiple downturns—are better equipped to make fast, smart decisions. With so much capital being deployed, experience matters.” 

Final Takeaway: Discipline Amid Optimism 

As the conversation closed, both speakers struck a similar note of cautious optimism. 

“There’s a lot to be excited about,” Benz said. “But excitement needs to be tempered with discipline. Risk management still matters.” 

Sin reflected on lessons from the post-COVID lending surge. “2021 was exuberant, and that led to very aggressive lending parameters,” she said. “We’ve all seen the consequences. Hopefully in 2026, we can combine discipline with selective aggressiveness—and apply those lessons wisely.” 

Watch the interview above. Conference photo courtesy of CREFC. To explore how SitusAMC is helping power opportunity across the CRE lifecycle, visit our website.