Tailwinds and Headwinds – April 20, 2026
Challenges for global investors vary by region as they seek to become more active in 2026
Real estate is a regional business inside a global one. That point is illustrated by CBRE’s newly issued 2026 Global Investor Intentions report, which identifies common themes across regions as well as considerations that are more specifically local.
At a high level, the report found that the 1,400-plus investors across all regions indicated that they plan to buy and sell more assets than last year, with U.S. investors showing the strongest intention of increasing activity.
Along with purchasing activity, selling activity is also expected to remain strong across all regions, supporting liquidity as global investors seek to redeploy capital into new acquisitions, according to CBRE. “With nearly half of U.S. investors planning to sell assets, this should drive healthy competition for acquisitions and support firmer pricing,” the report states.
While investors in each region intend to deploy capital in the largest markets, they are also paying close attention to locations that show positive demographic trends. This is particularly the case with markets in Southern Europe, according to the report.
Other macroeconomic trends help shape investors’ decision-making, and the report also identifies regional and global tailwinds as well as headwinds. Among the tailwinds are the following:
- Reduced new supply pipelines are seen as a major tailwind in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. New development of prime assets in major cities will likely not be enough to meet demand. This will underpin investment returns from existing high-quality assets and make renovation projects more viable. Conversion of older office assets in certain markets could prove to be a net positive for the sector.
- Lower debt costs than a year ago are also seen as a key tailwind across regions. “As of the end of Q1 2026, CBRE expects the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank to cut interest rates one time in the year’s second half, supporting investment activity,” the report states. “We believe that the rate-cutting cycle has largely concluded in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Competition among lenders has led to lower margins for new loans on prime real estate.”
- Across North America and Europe, attractive price entry points are also identified among the top tailwinds for investment in 2026. This reflects significant repricing across sectors over the past few years.
Although the expected tailwinds for property markets were largely the same across all regions, perceived headwinds varied, ranging from macro-economic challenges to transaction-specific obstacles. In terms of potential obstacles, CBRE identified these factors:
- Investors hold various opinions on the main challenges facing the investment market this year. The most common were the macroeconomic outlook, geopolitical landscape and pricing expectations.
- In North America, key challenges revolve around the macroeconomic outlook. Softening labor markets, elevated long-term rates and weakening property fundamentals were selected most often as the top concerns.
- European investors continue to see a mismatch in pricing expectations as the main challenge for real estate investment, though higher long-term interest rates are also a key concern.
- Higher labor and construction costs were seen as a major headwind in Asia Pacific, while trade policy was the most common concern for Latin American investors.
- Some similarities did emerge across regions, CBRE said. Geopolitical risks ranked second for challenges in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The survey was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2025 and therefore does not reflect changes in investor sentiment since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict. “Nevertheless, we believe that the global economic expansion will not be derailed by rising oil prices, barring a significant escalation of the hostilities,” the report states. With the prospects for escalation waxing and waning on nearly a daily basis, it seems likely that the markets will require some time to respond to the outcome, whatever it may be.