Summer Series Part II: Extend and Pretend, Again — A Behavioral History of Debt Deferral
The New Cycle of Delay Has Familiar Roots
In mid-2025, commercial real estate professionals are once again surrounded by phrases that feel both urgent and strangely recycled: “extend and pretend”, “maturity wall”, or “wave of expiries”. They appear in lender memos, investor calls, media interviews, and conference panels.
They sound like reactions to today's situation, but in reality they’re symp…