2025 CRE job market
Have slowly started seeing more roles posted since end of 2024, what is everyone seeing and do we see job postings pick up?
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, the CRE job market has been experiencing fluctuations influenced by broader economic conditions. While there isn't specific data in the context about 2025 job postings, previous discussions suggest that the market's competitiveness and hiring trends often depend on factors like economic cycles, interest rates, and sector-specific demand.
For example, in past years, the CRE job market has been described as "absurdly competitive," with increased interest from professionals in other fields like IB/PE. Additionally, certain sectors like multifamily and self-storage have shown resilience, while office spaces have faced significant challenges.
If job postings have started to pick up since late 2024, it could indicate a recovery or stabilization in certain CRE sectors. However, the market's trajectory will likely depend on factors such as consumer demand, capital availability, and macroeconomic stability. Keep an eye on emerging trends and sector-specific opportunities to gauge where the most activity is happening.
Sources: Will commercial RE be up down or flat in major cities/markets in 5 years?, CRE Trends That Are Emerging Now and Will Prevail Throughout Our Careers, CRE’s Brave New World, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/real-estate/whats-with-all-the-ibpe-bros-asking-about-cre?customgpt=1, How do you feel about the current state of CRE?
What type of roles have you been seeing because we must be looking on completely different planets?
yeah feel like its objectively gotten way worse
Comp has gone down. It’s embarrassing the numbers I have seen recruiters throw out. Lucky for those of us who locked in good comp before the slump
VP roles in NYC are non existent at the moment especially since most firms can’t raise capital
I know some single family offices (hotel, student housing and NNN sector) were hiring VP or Senior Analyst over the past three months
I have definitely seen an uptick in the number of postings in major West Coast markets. Heavily weighted towards asset management roles.
An infinite amount of energy development too it looks like.
Interesting -- can you talk more about this ( i.e., where, who, opportunities, contraints, etc.)? Thanks.
Lots of Data Center / EV roles as well
AM roles will always thrive regardless of how the market is performing. There's always properties to be managed.
Ignore the title, I’m more senior now.
Recruiters have been pinging me about associate roles lately though so it seems like things are picking up a tiny bit. Still a rough market.
We recently hired for an associate. I was pretty surprised at how weak the candidates were that we got. Of the 15 or so I interviewed, only 1-2 had real experience modeling waterfalls. Of those that didn't, not a single one had taken the time to teach it to themselves. All said "they'd like to some day" but still haven't, Also gave a pretty standard modeling test to a few and most bombed it. These were all from candidates that look like they had solid resumes too. I get that many associate level candidates haven't been able to get the best reps in yet in their career given how slow it's been, but you can't sit here complaining about the job market and then not even take it upon yourself to make sure you're a stand out candidate. Not saying it's specifically anyone on here, but given the amount of candidates we went through and this being a common theme, I just wonder if it's a gen z thing
Definitely a gen z we’ve seen a similar issue
My Gen Z intern is such a pussy
Is this nyc?
Define "modeling waterfalls". Haven't built a model from scratch, never built in new functionality based on deal terms, or just never interacted or understand how they work?
If I gave them a set of monthly levered cash flows, they would not be able to build a simple 3-tier waterfall for them to flow through from scratch. For us, this is an instant deal breaker at the associate level. Might get away with it coming out of undergrad or 1 year of experience, but if you're already an associate and can't do this yet, then we move on. When I was applying for associate roles 10 years ago, everyone in my cohort would be teaching ourselves this stuff on the weekends and practicing because we knew we would have to do it in a modeling test. Now, it seems like they all just want to complain about the job market and not even take the 10 hours (probably even less, you could realistically teach this to yourself in 3 to 5 hours of practice) it would take to learn waterfall modeling on a weekend.
I am actively looking for new roles and It's been difficult. It is taking longer than I expected. I've done a few interviews, but the comp was way low for analyst positions (I'm in in FL), practically the same as my current role. There also hasn't been as many openings as I would've hoped for.
I honestly don’t see things getting better in the near term for the job market.
CRE needs to go through a major reset - I just don’t see rent growth bailing us out this time. White collar has been stagnant and I only see this getting worse with AI. I just don’t see how people can nominally afford to pay any more rent.
I’m having a hard time seeing the golden days return any time soon. There will still be gold at the end of the Rainbow for those that stick it out but it’s going to be mucking through the slug to get there.
Those looking for analyst and associate level positions should really think hard about whether they want to be in real estate. It’s a good career but it could be another 5-10 years before fat times are seen again.
I pivoted to development well into the downturn (2023); I’ve only known bad times lol.
I wonder when the good times come back. They said ‘24, then ‘25, but things are clearly not going to improve this year.
It's going to take some time but it'll happen, most of the popular areas of the country are still in severe housing shortages, once the stars align once more there will be opportunity. There isn't a ton of movement on new starts because of rates and construction costs in my market, but there has been a pick-up in land acquisitions and entitlement because people are optimistic about rent growth. The inner suburbs are getting a massive boost from development friendly mayors since the core city is becoming harder and harder to get anything done in. I think that trend is going to continue around other major cities.
Same here. Only know the bad times. It’s brutal out there. Every marginal deal that would’ve been funded during QE is shelved, and even stuff that pencils out is getting passed on since equity can just sit on better yields for less brain damage. You keep hearing it’ll turn around soon, but it just never happens, and the end isn’t in sight. Rates just aren’t supportive of development right now. The only ones seemingly getting deals done are the nepo babies and those who already had capital.
I have seen more advisory roles open up in the past week.
Anyone else trying to land a role in SoCal markets right now? Seeing way more opps in NYC and SF, but holy shit LA seems dead
I said this before and I'll say it again, the last decade especially the last 5 years was an outlier. There was mass hiring in an overinflated CRE bubble. Stupid deals being done at 3 caps for Class B MF in Southeast. Excess capital floating around. Things have now changed. I heard at one point in 2021 there was 3 to 4 MF investment firms popping up in a DAY. Thats just for MF.
We have way too much talent and no longer have the need for that much staff. I honestly dont think we ever will have that much of a need for decades. Not to mention AI can take a lot of basic work off our plates.
I find it funny how people always look back with rose colored glasses.
I graduated in 2020 and got my first offer rescinded because of COVID. Nobody was hiring for 6 months.
Every year since then I’ve watched this forum and through my own experiences seen how difficult the job market is (at least for relatively junior employees)
Maybe there’s good data somewhere but I’m curious. Is the market actually worse today than 5 years ago or is this recency bias?
My firm (REPE top 100) has hired 5+ people this year across Dev, Capital Markets, asset management, portfolio management, & acquisitions
As someone who graduated in 2014, The market is so much worse than 5 years ago it's not even up for debate. I was always actively looking for the next best opportunity from 2014 - 2020 and never for a single month had any trouble getting most interviews I wanted. Our firms would consistently hire analyst / associates without the right applicable experience just to give them a benefit of the doubt because it was harder to find talent. Everyone that had offers rescinded during COVID had new offers within a year when the market went gang busters the other direction. Except for hospitality and some retail, there was plenty of capital willing to buy the dip during COVID (except for a few month period where everyone was frozen). It's hard to remember, but nearly the entire time of COVID we were consistently lead to believe that the return to normalcy was near and lots of folks were willing to bet on it especially with how low rates were. Conversely, I know several groups now that haven't done a deal for over two years.
Save your money people. If you’re a senior associate / VP today, your path to getting carry and getting rich-ish is not looking great.
Anyone moving around this summer in NYC for VP or senior associate level? Seeing little activity at this point.
Can attest. Have interviewed for one or two senior associate roles but they’re being extraordinarily picky I’ve found. Think most shops that are hiring at this level and likely have some dry power know they have serious higher ground when it comes to hiring right now.
(At least that’s what I tell myself)
Is it just me or does the market seem just as bad as ever? I'm cooked
I officially give up on the traditional route of finding a job. I have no choice but to create my own. Recently had development group in SE basically renege on an job offer. It has been one of the most disrespectful job interview processes I’ve been through to date. It is what is but now just come to realization if you want a seat at the table build your own chair.
I tried this. I said screw it and wanted my chair. So I started my own shop in 2023, received equity commitments exceeding $10M. Tried to get a deal, nothing penciled, my chair broke apart and my a** got kicked back to the curb. Found a job and back on the hamster wheel.
Lmao we have had very similar lives these past two years, I see.
How did people perceive this experience during the interview? I'd hire you as it takes balls and you learn a lot
Sorry to hear this. I commend you for trying. I just have to try my luck because I'm stuck in dead end job and traditional route just isn't working.
Assuming that something had penciled, how did you plan to handle guarantees? Was one of your potential LPs willing to sign in exchange for upside?
Not a traditional form of real estate, especially on this forum, but the corporate real estate world has been pretty much booming. There are a ton of jobs available in the US, but as its such small niche there are barely any suitable candidates. I switched over from an acquisition role and couldn't have been happier. Sure there is no carry, but tech companies give you RSU's etc. and I believe starting your own shop is more doable than in the more traditional sphere. Jobs are incredibly safe at the moment due to the aforementioned lack of talent. I also believe that the more hardcore skills learnt in traditional real estate/on the landlord side are incredibly valuable, as a large part of the corporate RE people lack that side. I have personally been working on starting my own consulting shop for a while now and will make the jump within a year or two.
Even if one gets comfortable with the day-to-day and career trajectory, isn't it a crazy large pay cut going from tradition RE investing roles to the head of real estate for vandelay industries? And to go higher in the company, above 'head of real estate,' you're necessarily expanding outside of real estate into something else (which is great if you're bored of RE but not if you're not)? Congrats on finding a great role.
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