Recent real estate industry research supports the notion that real estate assets provide some protection in inflationary periods. : Inflation appears to be providing another tailwind for investors looking to increase allocations to commercial real estate. But is the promise of commercial real estate as an inflation hedge all it’s cracked up to be? According to Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates, the consumer price index rose 5.4 percent in September, the fifth straight month in which the inflation rate was five percent or greater.