The year 2025 will likely go down in history as the inflection point for artificial intelligence (AI). From announcements in major AI infrastructure projects to historic new investments in chipmaking facilities and energy production, AI-related news has become almost a daily affair as the world enters the fourth industrial revolution, or the AI revolution.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant promise for the real estate sector — it is rapidly becoming the backbone of innovation, efficiency and strategic decision making. This article explores the agentic frontier of AI in real estate, highlighting the latest advances, practical applications and the research agenda that will define the next decade.

As attendees of the Fall PREA Conference recently gathered to hear Andrew Ross Sorkin speak — and received copies of his book 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History — the timing could not have been more prescient. Sorkin’s reflections on the speculative mania, regulatory gaps and economic fragility that preceded the Great Crash of 1929 offer more than historical insight — they serve as a mirror to the present moment.

In 2025, global retail was defined by “resilience, transformation and divergence”, according to Colliers’ Global Retail: 2025 Trends & 2026 Outlook report. Across all markets, Colliers notes the emergence of three key themes: the deepening integration of digital and physical retail, the rise of value-driven shopping as consumers navigate higher costs, and the increasing influence of Gen Z in shaping brand engagement and purchase decisions.

Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has entered into an agreement to acquire a 19.9 percent interest in retail centre Westfield Sydney for A$864 million (US$579 million) in the largest single-asset central business district retail transaction in Australia.

GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and Brookfield Asset Management have agreed to acquire National Storage REIT (NSR) — the largest self-storage provider in Australia with a portfolio of more than 290 self-storage facilities in Australia and New Zealand — for approximately A$4 billion (US$2.6 billion).

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) has signed an agreement to establish a A$14 billion (US$9.38 billion) European data centre partnership with Australia’s Goodman Group. The 50-50 partnership involves an initial total capital commitment of A$3.9 billion (US$2.61 billion) to develop a portfolio of data centre projects in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris.

M7 Real Estate, the European investment and asset management business jointly owned by Oxford Properties Group and AustralianSuper, has purchased a portfolio of 31 urban infill and mid-box logistics assets across key metropolitan markets in France and the United Kingdom.

Brookfield Asset Management has completed the sale of Cheongna Logistics Center, a high-quality logistics facility located in Incheon, in what is the largest single-asset logistics transaction in South Korea to date.

In a sponsored report published in the February issue of Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific, Brian Chinappi, Actis’ Global Head of Real Estate and Data Centers, lays out the complexities that make operational excellence and in-depth market expertise vital for success in Asia’s maturing pnew-economy real estate market.