Everything is Interrelated – Oct. 19, 2026
The Counselors of Real Estate see four common denominators among the 10 issues with greatest impact for the industry
Trend reports in commercial real estate examine the universe from a variety of vantage points. They may evaluate markets based on their investment potential, identify factors shaping (or potentially shaping) specific sectors or make growth projections. A handful aim to present an all-encompassing world view. The Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends series is one, and the Counselors of Real Estate’s annual Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate is another.
Not coincidentally, the Counselors have just issued the 2027 Top Ten. To paraphrase the title of a song made famous in its English translation by Dinah Washington, what a difference a year makes. In the 2026 roster, fiscal and monetary policy topped the ranking, with the impact of technology in general ranking fifth. This year, artificial intelligence leads the list of the current and emerging trends expected to have the greatest impact on all sectors of the industry, domestically and globally.
And it’s not only AI’s relentless march forward, leading to an explosion of data center development, that is shaping the real estate conversation. There’s also pushback against this development. “In the U.S., legislators in at least 14 states are considering bans or temporary moratoriums on new facilities, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures,” writes Jeffrey Havsy, practice lead – commercial real estate, Moody’s Analytics.
“From an economic development perspective, data centers could become a deterrent to other commercial and residential development,” Havey continues in the Counselors’ 2027 report. “People may not want to live near a data center that produces a constant hum. Depending on the power supply, a data center location could result in higher or lower utility costs, creating a potential advantage or disadvantage for other uses.”
All in all, the 2027 report finds that the top 10 issues share four common denominators—property, people, technology and capital—and intertwine. AI drives energy and water demand, for example. Demographics drive migration. Migration influences housing. Climate risk affects insurance, migration and capital markets. Interest rates affect development, refinancing and distress.
“The forces shaping real estate today are increasingly interrelated,” said John Baczewski, CRE, global chairman of The Counselors of Real Estate. “Artificial intelligence is driving unprecedented demand for power and data infrastructure. Demographic shifts are influencing migration patterns, which in turn affect housing demand and economic development. At the same time, climate risk, capital market conditions, and geopolitical uncertainty are reshaping investment decisions and asset management. Success in this environment requires a clear understanding of how these trends converge and influence one another.”
In addition to AI, the issues that the Counselors believe will prove most influential include the following:
- The Capital Markets: “Rate cuts aren’t coming to the rescue. The winners will focus on fundamentals.”
- Construction Costs & The Supply Chain: “Rising costs make new projects harder to pencil and existing buildings more valuable.”
- Geopolitics – Pricing Risk in a Complex World: “Wars, trade policy, and supply chain disruption are now risks investors must price in.”
- The New Migration Equation: “People now move for lifestyle, not just jobs, and real estate needs to catch up.”
- Housing Attainability: “Teachers, nurses, and first responders are being priced out. Every site selection decision is now a housing decision.”
- Distressed Assets & The Refinancing Risk: “With more than $1 trillion in debt maturing in the next 18 months, distress is being delayed, not eliminated.”
- The High Cost of Climate Risk: “Insurance, energy, and regulation are turning resilience into a bottom-line issue.”
- The Labor Crunch: “Fewer workers and booming data center demand are driving up costs and stretching timelines.”
- Office Sector Transformation: “Opportunity vs. obsolescence. The right buildings in the right locations will win.”
Rather than pondering each issue in isolation, stakeholders should consider how technology, demographics, financial conditions and environmental risks together are influencing capital allocation, development decisions and long-term market resilience, the report says. Its goal is to move the conversation from issue identification toward recognizing strategic implications and devising actionable solutions.
The point here isn’t that these issues are jockeying for position in terms of which ones demand the biggest share of attention, analysis and wallet. They’re interconnected, and not necessarily stacked neatly. Too little or too much focus on one could magnify the impact of the others.