The U.S. commercial real estate market is experiencing robust mid‑year momentum, with CBRE forecasting a 10% year-over-year increase in investment activity. Transactional volume is projected to hit $437 billion by the close of 2025, according to their mid‑year review published in August 2025.
The report signals that while total volumes remain approximately 18% below pre-pandemic annual averages from 2015 to 2019, prime assets are attracting significantly greater attention. CBRE notes that cap rates—the ratio of net operating income to property value—are beginning to soften from their cycle highs, particularly in high-quality office and industrial spaces.
Despite interest rate volatility, with the 10-year Treasury yield expected to end the year near 4.3%, the recovery in real estate fundamentals continues to take shape. CBRE revised its full-year GDP forecast downward to 1.5%, citing budget deficits and geopolitical uncertainties, but reaffirmed solid leasing and sales activity across sectors.
Integrated data from CBRE’s first-quarter 2025 results confirms investment volume increased by 14% year-over-year, reaching $88 billion, while net-lease investment alone rose 9% to $9.6 billion. Additionally, CBRE’s investor intentions survey reveals that 70% of investors plan to buy more assets in 2025 than in the prior year, and 54% expect their activity to recover within the first half of the year. Multifamily, industrial, and retail assets remain most favored by buyers.
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Investors are targeting properties in gateway metros and Tier-1 markets, pushing premium pricing on prime assets across multifamily, industrial, and select office buildings. Despite long-term interest rates staying elevated, buyers are drawn by pricing opportunities and stabilized expectations in cap rates. Prime office markets are seeing a rise in gross leasing activity, while weaker-performing assets face ongoing challenges. Demand in the industrial sector is consolidating around newer logistics buildings, while absorption levels remain strong and new supply moderates.
In parallel with investment growth, CoStar Group has made a significant move into proptech infrastructure by completing a $1.6 billion acquisition of Matterport in February 2025. The deal merges 3D digital twin technology into its property data and marketplace ecosystem, including brands like Homes.com.
Matterport, which had captured over 14 million spaces across 177 countries, brings vast AI‑driven spatial data and virtual tour capabilities to CoStar’s expansive platform suite. CoStar CEO Andy Florance emphasized the alignment, stating that Matterport’s cutting‑edge 3D capture and AI‑powered property insights have already transformed how residential and commercial properties are marketed and experienced.
The deal, a premium of approximately 216% over Matterport’s prior-closing stock price, positions CoStar to lead the next wave of digital real estate innovation. The acquisition enables property search, analysis, and visualization on an integrated platform across Homes.com, Apartments.com, LoopNet, and CoStar itself.
Institutional momentum and investor confidence are clearly on the upswing, fueled by favorable pricing and improved market clarity. Prime assets and tech-enabled portfolios are becoming market differentiators for capital deployment. The convergence of technology through acquisitions like Matterport and Homes.com signals accelerated adoption of digital tools such as 3D tours, AI analytics, and spatial mapping in both residential and commercial real estate ecosystems. As interest rate pressure slowly eases through the remainder of 2025, further compression in cap rates and acceleration in deal flows across high-quality sectors seems likely.
In summary, the mid‑year outlook reaffirms that commercial real estate in the U.S. is on a recovery path, with CBRE projecting $437 billion in investment activity by year-end driven by prime assets. Meanwhile, CoStar’s acquisitions reflect a strategic bet on technology reshaping property search and investment tools—firmly embedding proptech into the heart of real estate workflows.