A record $205.5 billion of cash is earmarked for investment in U.S. commercial real estate.

In the second quarter, U.S. businesses signed new leases for an estimated 97.5 million square feet, up from 57.4 million square feet in the second quarter of 2020, the low point of the pandemic. But, the average U.S. office lease size was 3,275 square feet, or 19% less than the average lease size between 2015 and 2019.

Since 2018, the average unit size for new housing starts has decreased 10% nationally to 2,420 square feet. Construction starts for new single-family homes declined in 2022, but starts for homes with fewer than three bedrooms increased 9.5% over the same period.

While retail landlords in some areas, including large cities, have been forced to lower rents since the start of the pandemic, the overall average asking rent for retail space in the U.S. has increased 6.3% since the second quarter of 2020. Asking rents now average more than $23 a square foot, the highest level in at least a decade.

Opportunistic real-estate funds run by private-equity firms have nearly $145 billion in so-called dry powder for future investments, up from $120 billion at the end of last year.

WeWork, once one of the world’s most valuable startups worth $47 billion, said excess supply of commercial real estate, greater competition for flexible space and uncertain economic conditions resulted in losses in the second quarter. The company’s stock is down more than 95% since its public listing, with an estimated market capitalization now around $450 million.

Total commercial and multifamily mortgage lending is expected to fall to $504 billion this year, a 38% decline from 2022.

Apartment-building values fell 14% for the year ended in June after rising 25% the previous year.

More than $14 billion of loans backed by local malls comes due in the next 12 months with about a fifth of all malls financed through commercial mortgage-backed securities underwater.

Rampant uncertainty has pushed commercial-property sales to their lowest level in years. Investors purchased only $130.5 billion worth of U.S. commercial property the first five months of 2023, a 61% decline from the same period last year.