Growth in transactional activity more evident in Q3

Improved market sentiment was evident in closed transaction activity during the third quarter. Globally, direct investment volumes were up 26% year-over-year, reaching US$182 billion. This brought year-to-date volumes to US$471 billion, reflecting an increase of 6%. Investment volumes in each region posted gains in transactions during the quarter, a positive signal for future growth as interest rate cuts stand to support momentum and further catalyze transactions through 2025.

While year-to-date transaction activity remained flat in the U.S., volumes surged by 23% in the third quarter year-over-year. In Asia Pacific, Singapore led growth in the quarter, growing 118% year-over-year to US$4 billion. South Korea and Japan remain active with transactions doubling in the third quarter year-over-year. Improvements were recorded across Europe’s largest markets, with the UK and Germany experiencing activity increases of 29% and 6% year-over-year, respectively.

As the market improves, divergent sectoral dynamics remain, and capital continues to favor growth-oriented sectors. The positive outlook for the living sector is a bright spot globally, with momentum building in transactional markets in the U.S., UK and Germany. Investor sentiment and bidding dynamics for industrial and logistics remain resilient, in particular for assets with the greatest opportunity to reset rents. Interest is also growing for select retail, hotel and office opportunities. Office fundamentals are steadily improving for the highest-quality assets, and top-quality transactions are now attracting institutional bidders.