Last year was another challenging one for the commercial real estate sector. While the Federal Reserve started reducing interest rates, it didn't cut them as fast as the market expected due to stubbornly high inflation. Higher rates acted as a headwind for the sector, impacting property values and the ability of real estate investors to borrow money to fund new real estate deals. As a result, the average real estate investment trust (REIT) delivered a meager return last year. The S&P U.S. REIT Index only ga ...