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Asia Pacific real estate investment reached $201 billion in 2025, up 13.7 percent, hitting Knight Frank's 10 percent to 15 percent forecast range, as stabilizing rates drew capital back to quality assets.

Consumer behavior continues to fundamentally reshape retail real estate —  from who now controls demand to how physical space must earn relevance every day. Katie Grissom, global head of retail, Nuveen, in an interview with IREI, discusses the shift from brand-led retail to behavior-led ecosystems, explaining why habit, not loyalty, has become the dominant driver of performance. Drawing on real-world portfolio experience, Grissom explores why daily-needs formats are outperforming destination retail, how data and omnichannel strategies have strengthened physical stores and why convenience, utility and emotional payoff now define successful centers.

Griffin Capital has recently released a report titled, “Institutional Ownership of Single-Family Homes, Homeownership Affordability, and the Role of Build-to-Rent,” to give an evidence-based perspective on the Executive Order to restrict institutional purchases of single-family homes, and why housing affordability is primarily a supply-and-cost-of-ownership problem, not an investor-competition problem.

As commercial real estate adjusts to a higher-rate environment and ongoing structural shifts, investors are re-evaluating strategies and seeking opportunities to generate returns in a more complex market. In an exclusive interview with IREI, Josh Morris, a partner and global head of real estate at Davidson Kempner Capital Management (DK), LP, discusses sector and regional dispersion and highlights how investors can identify attractive investment entry points, generate operational alpha, and navigate the evolving risk-return landscape. He also addresses the importance of nimble, data-driven decision-making in today’s market.

.S. real estate is experiencing a prolonged cycle of value dislocation. Ryan Cotton, Partner and Head of Bain Capital Real Estate, tells IREI that current market conditions are analogous, in part, to the 1970s, when rising interest rates initially challenged real estate, but the sector later became one of the strongest performers as fundamentals tightened. He highlights that current conditions favor thematic, sector-focused strategies that target long-term demand and income growth, rather than broad “beta” investments. Cotton also notes that while interest rates are an important input into valuations, they are not the only factor; volatility and underlying fundamentals, such as earnings growth, net operating income (NOI), and EBITDA, are also significant metrics to consider.

Institutional Real Estate, Inc. (IREI) has released the first video of a new series called “House Views.” The videos will be hosted by Geoffrey Dohrmann and recorded regularly with the principals of some of the leading global and regional placement agents to learn their views on the markets as well as explore specific aspects of the markets.

INREV has released the second edition of its recently launched ODCE Flash Report, available only 15 days after quarter end. The one-year rolling return provides an early snapshot of performance for the calendar year 2025 across ODCE funds. 

Asia Pacific’s office market is showing clear signs of stabilization after two years of rental declines. Regional rents fell 0.2 percent year-on-year in 2025, compared with a 1.6 percent drop in 2024. Knight Frank’s Fourth Quarter 2025 Office Highlights also show a 0.7 percent quarter-on-quarter rise in prime rents, the strongest increase in more than three years, led by strong momentum in India’s major markets. 

Rising demand for AI and high-performance computing is reshaping cloud competition, data-center design, and capital allocation, increasing the importance of purpose-built infrastructure, execution speed, and aligned partnerships. In a discussion with IREI, Jared Sheiker, chief of staff for the real assets platform at Blue Owl Capital, and Julia Robin, vice president of networking and data center capacity management at Oracle, addressed how considerations such as power availability, water use, workforce development, and sustainability are influencing development decisions, alongside a shift toward disciplined, demand-driven growth.

Bloom Energy has released its Data Center Power Report, which found that more data center leaders are reducing their reliance on utility grids by investing in onsite power for rapidly scaling data centers.

European private real estate credit is capturing heightened interest from U.S. institutional investors at a pivotal moment in the credit cycle. In an exclusive interview with IREI,  Tom Lloyd-Jones, CIO and co-founder of Zenzic Capital, a London-based real estate credit manager specializing in Europe’s underserved lower and middle market, discusses how Europe offers both strong relative value and meaningful diversification from domestic markets. Structural inefficiencies, including fragmented capital markets, bank-dominated lending, and regulatory constraints, create opportunities for lenders to secure attractive spreads and robust protections, while macro and real estate fundamentals differ enough from the United States to offer uncorrelated outcomes.

Global institutions are set to invest $144 billion into commercial real estate in 2026, according to Knight Frank’s Active Capital survey.

Ferguson Partners has released its 2026 Human Capital Trends Report, identifying the most pressing real assets industry workforce priorities shaping the year ahead.

JLL Capital Markets has announced a strong rebound in investment activity across all New York City asset classes, led by a dramatic resurgence in the office sector.

Rising tariffs, elevated construction costs and slowing development activity are reshaping the multifamily landscape at a critical moment for housing supply. In an exclusive interview with IREI, Ryan Brome, COO at Forum Investment Group, examines how developers and investors are adjusting underwriting, managing risk, and positioning portfolios amid cost uncertainty, capital constraints, and persistent rental demand.

The U.S. industrial real estate market closed 2025 with strengthening fundamentals and improving momentum heading into 2026, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Stable vacancy, sustained leasing activity, moderating new supply, and a meaningful uptick in second-half absorption all point to a market transitioning toward healthier, more balanced growth.

Europe’s corporate distress picture appeared to stabilize on the surface in fourth quarter 2025, but the latest Weil European Distress Index (WEDI) points to a materially more fragile outlook moving into 2026. Liquidity and profitability pressures remain acute and distress is becoming increasingly uneven across sectors and countries. As a result, corporate distress is expected to rise through 2026, reflecting weaker investment conditions, elevated borrowing costs and continued uncertainty around trade policy and geopolitical risk. This is likely to drive a widening divergence, with pressure intensifying in more exposed sectors and countries while others remain comparatively resilient.

Global investor confidence in real estate has strengthened significantly heading into 2026, reaching its highest level since 2019, according to the 2026 Investment Intentions Survey, published today by INREV, ANREV and PREA.

After a turbulent period, real estate has absorbed a significant amount of pain. PIMCO believes 2026 will be defined by structural uncertainty and a return to fundamentals. Predicting interest rates remains complex, so underwriting will need to prioritize income quality over speculative cap rate compression.

Today’s real estate investors expect more than financial returns — they want transparency, strong performance, and meaningful communication. As investor priorities evolve around risk, asset allocation, and technology, investment managers must adapt to maintain trust and drive growth. To better understand these shifts, AppFolio surveyed 200 U.S.-based investors and property owners.