CRE Investors Poised to Buy, But With Caution Article originally posted on Globe St. on January 30, 2026 CBRE’s January report on investor activity in the CRE space bears a familiar theme: investors in 2026 are definitely interested and ready to increase their investment but remain cautious. The report is based on a survey of investors’ intentions. It showed that 70% of investors plan to buy more CRE, while an additional 20% will keep it at the same level. Less than 5% intend to buy less than in 2025. In 2025, just 48% of investors planned increased allocations to CRE. More than half intend to increase their allocation to CRE in 2026. Those planning to sell were largely driven by closed-end funds nearing their end, disposition mandates and the need to refinance maturing loans, the report said. Increased interest in CRE was attributed to stabilizing interest rates, improved expected total return, favorable pricing, and improved occupier market performance and income growth. Markets with the greatest investment appeal included Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, San Francisco Bay area, Miami, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, Tampa, Seattle and Greater New York City. There was some shifting in the ranking of sectors targeted for investment. Multifamily remains the top target for investors (74%), followed by industrial and logistics (37%) and retail (27%), while office also improved its position. Well-located, high-quality assets were in greatest demand. Alternatives and hotels improved their positions, in some cases just slightly. Interest in data centers remained at 2025 levels. The number of investors interested in value-add (32%) was slightly lower than in 2025, but in 2026 more were interested in core-plus (32%) and core investments (11%) and fewer in opportunistic buys, distressed assets and debt strategies. One-third intended to pursue both value-add as well as core-plus strategies, considered attractive because of their balanced risk-return profile, stable income and enhanced liquidity. However, investment in distressed assets will concentrate on CMBS defaults and select underperforming assets. Fire sales are not expected. In addition, in 2026 debt-fund managers are expected to deploy more than $40 billion of capital raised. That is one-third of the capital raised in 2025 for real estate private equity funds. Once again, Sunbelt cities and high-performing secondary markets will remain attractive, especially Dallas for the fifth consecutive year. Despite the optimism among investors, there were also concerns about the economic outlook and weakening labor market. There were fears that AI could slow job growth and lead to higher unemployment. Volatile long-term interest rates were also a concern. In addition, inflation and budget deficits could keep rates high, unless the Fed implements interest rate cuts. However, rate cuts and lower spreads could incentivize increased investment. Increased interest in CRE was attributed to stabilizing interest rates, improved expected total return, favorable pricing, and improved occupier market performance and income growth. Markets with the greatest investment appeal included Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, San Francisco Bay area, Miami, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, Tampa, Seattle and Greater New York City. The report found most investors expect cap rate compression across all property types over the next two years. One third of office investors predict a reduction of more than 26 bps. Others expect decompression in the 10 to 25 bps range. Other office investors anticipate improved pricing for stabilized Class A assets, with 17% willing to bid up 10% over the asking price. As a group, the report found, three-quarters of investors continue to favor direct real estate or wholly owned real estate assets. “General partners favor value-add strategies, while limited partners prefer core-plus for its stable income and balanced risk,” the report concluded.