The next real estate investment cycle will be shaped less by simple sector allocation and more by income growth, operational performance, pricing and the ability to future-proof assets. During the closing debate of Property Forum's Real Estate Capital & Investment Decisions Forum 2026 in London, investors, developers and capital markets experts discussed where they see the strongest opportunities, from residential and logistics to retail, data centres and selectively chosen offices.

As FDI becomes increasingly concentrated in infrastructure-intensive sectors, corporate location decisions are becoming an important signal for real estate and institutional investors.

W. P. Carey's Head of European Investments, Christopher Mertlitz, has shared his assessment of market conditions following Expo Real 2026, pointing to cautious but active sentiment among participants and rising interest in alternative financing structures.

CBRE Investment Management (CBRE IM) has appointed Bert Hesselink as EMEA Customer Relationship Management Logistics Lead. In the role, he will strengthen relationships with occupiers across CBRE IM's logistics portfolio, helping businesses identify real estate solutions that support their operational and growth requirements. He will work closely with local asset management, leasing and operating teams, acting as a strategic partner to occupiers across the logistics, retail and office sectors.

The 2026 ULI Europe Conference brought together real estate leaders to take stock of where the European market stands today and where it is heading. Across a series of sessions covering investment strategy, capital markets, climate risk and technology, several clear themes emerged. We report from Berlin to summarise the five most significant ones.

European investors continue to lead commercial real estate investment across the continent, accounting for 48% of activity in Q1 2026, according to BNP Paribas Real Estate data. American investors follow with 31%, while Asia Pacific investors represent just 7% and Middle Eastern investors 2%.

Conducted in autumn 2025, the RICS Sustainable Real Estate Survey Europe gathered 112 responses from valuers, developers, investors and other professionals across 30 countries. The findings confirm that ESG has moved from a peripheral concern to a core driver of real estate value, risk and decision-making across Europe.

Despite global uncertainty and stronger competition from other asset classes, Europe’s real estate market is proving more resilient than many expected. In an interview with Property Forum, Petra Blazkova, Head of Research & Strategy at Catella, argues that structural undersupply, index-linked income and disciplined development are keeping the sector on a solid footing, while investors increasingly shift from broad sector bets to highly selective, asset-level strategies.

The European data centre sector is entering a period of unprecedented expansion, with operators expecting to commission an average of 67MW of capacity in 2026. 

Due diligence platform Drooms has released its Real Estate Trends Report 2026, showing that European transaction times remained stable at 363 days in 2025, compared to previous years of continuous increases.