The share of real estate companies in the commercial sector (retail spaces, business centers and offices, logistics spaces) counting on revenue growth in the coming year remains high (83%), although slightly down from last year (88%), and 68% plan to increase their spending in 2026, according to the Deloitte 2026 Commercial Real Estate Outlook global study. At the same time, 65% of participants (up from 68% a year ago) expect an improvement in market fundamentals such as the cost and availability of capital, occupancy, rents and vacancies.
Under these conditions, almost 75% of participants intend to increase their investments in real estate assets in the coming year, mainly to protect against inflation (34%), to diversify their portfolio of financial assets (26%) or for potential tax benefits (14%).
European companies are the most optimistic about the evolution of the fundamentals of the real estate market – around 70% expect improvements in aspects related to renting, lending and financing through the capital market. Participants in the Asia-Pacific region are more cautious – 63% predict an improvement in market conditions in 2026, but around 20% predict a deterioration in the cost and availability of capital. In contrast, North American companies have a neutral outlook – 25% expect stability in rents, vacancies and cost of capital.
Overall, the perception index of companies in the field, which measures their degree of optimism regarding the evolution of revenues, expenses and market fundamentals, is high (65 points out of 100), well above that of 2023 (44 points) and very close to the maximum level reached last year (68 points).
Regarding the macroeconomic trends that could most affect the financial performance of real estate companies in 2026, survey participants ranked the availability of capital first (up from sixth place last year), followed by high interest rates, cost of capital, volatility in foreign exchange markets and changes in fiscal policy. It's worth noting that concerns about cyber risk dropped significantly among participants, from second last year to sixth this year, but concerns about employee retention rose to eighth this year from 12th last year. At the same time, a new risk was identified this year – the one regarding international trade policies – which entered directly into the ninth place in the global ranking, but was placed in the fifth position in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Developments in the real estate market are closely related to the economic conditions in the respective market, so the optimism of the study participants indicates that the players in the field are adapting on the fly to the volatility of the business environment characteristic of recent years and are counting more and more on the speed of reaction, simultaneously with the rapid identification of long-term development opportunities. In Romania, real estate companies are counting, this year, on a gradual decrease in inflation and, implicitly, financing costs, but also on the continuation of public investments, in especially in infrastructure, which can generate an increase in demand on the real estate market (industrial, logistics, retail spaces, offices, etc.)”, said Irina Dimitriu, Partner Reff & Associates | Deloitte Legal, Leader of Consulting Services for the Real Estate sector within Deloitte Romania.
The ranking of the most attractive assets remains relatively stable this year – properties associated with the digital economy (data centers, mobile towers, etc.) returned to first place, from two last year, spaces with logistics and storage functions rose to the next place (from four), and the industrial and manufacturing sector fell from first place to three. Offices in both suburban and downtown areas each regained two positions compared to last year, climbing to fifth and seventh place, respectively.
On the other hand, enthusiasm for the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in commercial real estate is tempering compared to last year. Nearly 20 percent of respondents say their organizations are at an early stage in AI adoption, while 27 percent face implementation challenges, including technical issues, lack of necessary expertise, or resistance to change.
The Deloitte 2026 Commercial Real Estate Outlook survey was conducted among more than 850 companies with assets of more than $250 million each from Europe (France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain), North America (Canada, Mexico and the US) and Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, India, Japan and Singapore).
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Article supported by Deloitte Romania
