INVESTMENT SALES · JUNE 2026
By Ken Schuckman · President & CEO, Schuckman Realty Inc.
The single-tenant net lease market does not feel like it did three years ago, and the reason is simple: the cost of money changed. When the risk-free rate moves, every cap rate in the net-lease universe has to reprice around it, and the buyers who dominated the market at the bottom of the rate cycle are not the same buyers leading it today. Understanding who is actually transacting right now is the difference between a property that sells and one that sits.
How rates reset the math
For most of the last decade, single-tenant net lease assets traded at historically thin cap rates because borrowing was cheap and yield was scarce. As rates climbed, that equation inverted. Buyers who depend on leverage saw their cost of debt rise above the going-in yield on many deals, which made financed acquisitions accretive only at materially higher cap rates. The result has been a repricing across the net-lease spectrum, with the widest moves in the longer-duration, lowest-yield trophy assets that were most sensitive to cheap money.
Who is buying now
The buyer pool has rotated toward those who are less rate-dependent. All-cash private buyers, 1031 exchange investors with a hard deadline and a need to place equity, and family offices focused on durable income are now the most active and most decisive bidders for well-located, creditworthy net-lease assets. Highly leveraged institutional buyers have stepped back at the margin, while the patient private capital that can underwrite to current yields without bank financing has stepped forward. For sellers, this means pricing to where the active buyers actually are, not to where the market was at the last peak.
What still trades tight
Not everything has moved equally. Assets backed by strong corporate credit, in irreplaceable locations, with long remaining term and built-in rent escalations, continue to trade at a meaningful premium to the broader market. The 1031 buyer in particular will pay up for certainty of income and simplicity of management. The widest pricing gaps, and the best opportunities for value buyers, are in shorter-term, lower-credit, or secondary-location deals where the financing math is hardest to make work.
Owner takeaway: If you are considering a net-lease sale, price the deal to today’s active buyer, not yesterday’s. A clean, well-located asset with strong credit and remaining term can still command aggressive pricing from cash and 1031 buyers. Marketing it as though leverage is still cheap is the fastest way to chase the market down.
How we can help
Schuckman Realty advises owners and investors on single-tenant and multi-tenant net-lease transactions across the Northeast. We know which buyers are active at today’s cap rates and how to position an asset to reach them. If you are weighing a sale, a 1031 acquisition, or a recapitalization, we welcome the conversation.
SOURCES
The Boulder Group — “Net Lease Market Report Q1 2026”
CBRE — “U.S. Net Lease Investment Outlook 2026”
Federal Reserve — “Selected Interest Rates (H.15)”
Marcus & Millichap — “Single-Tenant Net Lease Research Brief 2026”