News

AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson interviews James Ball, the National Building Museum’s director of future cities, about the past, present and future of the structures we exist in every day. This conversation is geared to people who invest in developing buildings around the world. 

The AFIRE February 2026 Investor Survey Report provides key insights into the commercial real estate strategy of global investors.

Can office buildings from the 1970s and 80s–often dismissed as “garbage”—be the key to solving the US housing crisis?

AFIRE’s multiple award-winning Summit Journal begins 2026 on a high note, claiming three new awards for design, content, and thought leadership.

How will demographics affect commercial real estate investing? How will changes in generational characteristics affect opportunities in US property markets? Neil Howe is an author of The Fourth Turning and The Fourth Turning is Here.

Climate change is reshaping real estate, making climate fluency essential for investors. Resilience and adaptability are now core competencies, guiding decisions from underwriting to operations and positioning assets for long-term value in a changing world.

Mid-cap commercial real estate, generally defined as assets in the $20–$100 million range, represents a segment of the US market that remains relatively under-explored compared to both large-cap institutional transactions and smaller private investments.

Investment managers have an excellent opportunity to re-design their investment management practices using AI to achieve investment outcomes that are often influenced by market uncertainty, data proliferation, and rapid advances in finance and technology.

For CRE professionals, AI might seem like another tool in the smart building arsenal. But the possibilities of AI go far beyond utility and will require smart management and oversight to maximize its potential (and avoid its pitfalls).

If current trends sustain, data centers may become a defining infrastructure asset of the digital economy; equally, the sector’s evolution from energy sourcing to compute architectures means that the only constant is change.

Financial headwinds and generational shifts are driving a growing cohort of “Lifestyle Renters” willing to pay premium rents for the neighborhoods and amenities they desire—here is how to identify where they live and what they look for.

An emerging story blames migrants from high-cost, regulation-heavy coastal states for “importing” anti-development politics into the Sunbelt and reducing new housing. A county-level test of that claim does not hold up.

The AFIRE International Investor Survey: 2026 Outlook has 14 questions (and three potential sub-questions) and will take 5–8 minutes to complete. Deadline: Friday, December 12, 2026.

Middle East family offices are expanding beyond legacy real estate and directing capital into next generation US sectors including data centers, logistics, and student and workforce housing, driven by energy transition strategies, demographic resilience, and long-term value creation.

While there are incremental investment risks in Mexico, Mexican and US industrial share more characteristics than might be expected and the risk premium could justifiably be narrower than called for by sovereign bond spreads. 

The AFIRE H2 2025 Investor Survey provides key insights into the commercial real estate strategy of global investors.

With strong fundamentals and tailwinds, good quality and high volume of deal flow with ample debt availability, there are many reasons to consider looking at Canada.

Summit Journal Issue #20, to be published in February 2026, is currently seeking article proposals from across the commercial real estate community. Proposal deadline: October 31, 2025.

Population size, migration patterns, aging, household composition, and the rise of remote work are reshaping demand structures, presenting both challenges and investment opportunities across the commercial real estate landscape.

Rather than reacting impulsively to short-term market fluctuations, institutional investors have the resources (and patience) to recognize the US market as a continued cornerstone of global diversification strategies focused on attractive long-term returns.

Only a few years after many observers were declaring that New York City, San Francisco and other gateway U.S. cities have forever lost their appeal to commercial real estate investors, new sentiment surveys are showing gateway markets are coming back in favor.

The U.S. media continues putting rising interest rates and ongoing inflationary concerns in its headlines. Yet despite all of this, international institutional investors continue to view U.S. commercial real estate as “a preferred destination, relative to Europe, for real estate investment across property types,” according to a recent survey released by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE).

More than 20 properties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area tied to commercial mortgage-backed securities are considered to be financially stressed as property values decline or vacancy rises, reflecting the nationwide fallout from reduced demand.

AFIRE, the association for international real estate investors focused on commercial property in the United States, has released its AFIRE International Investor Survey: Q1 2023 Pulse Report, underwritten by Holland Partner Group.

Allocations among top investors for commercial real estate in the US were up 6% over a year ago, while European investments declined by 5%, according to a survey by AFIRE.

The U.S. remains a preferred global destination for commercial real estate investment with allocations up 6% from 2022, compared to a 5% decline in European investment, according to AFIRE’s International Investor Survey: Q1 2023 Pulse Report.

AFIRE, the association for international real estate investors focused on commercial property in the United States, has released its AFIRE International Investor Survey: Q1 2023 Pulse Report, underwritten by Holland Partner Group.

The US trails the EU on adoption of ESG investment principles, with a consensus that more incentives are needed for momentum.

Real estate company Climate Core Capital and the Harvard Graduate School of Design explored how quickly some of the nation’s most desirable real estate markets would heat up beyond the point of tolerable human living in what they called a “Death Valley Index.”

While the strong dollar makes acquisitions costlier, the U.S. offers a safe haven from geopolitical upheaval.

AFIRE survey shows reuse, redevelopment top of mind as market turbulence looms.

AFIRE released its Summer 2022 International Survey Pulse this past week, which found mounting concerns about US commercial real estate.

Foreign institutional investors are adapting to market headwinds as they grapple with mounting inflation and rising interest rates in the US, according to the latest survey from AFIRE, the association for international real estate investors focused on commercial property here.

Chicago’s tech sector is on the rise, but to keep the momentum going, commercial real estate brokers and investors alike advise investing in places for well-paid tech talent to live.

Rising rates and inflation are making it hard for foreign investors to assign correct valuations to assets. But experts say those are temporary setbacks and cross-border investment will rebound.

On this episode, Gunnar shared his insights on why the U.S. Real Estate Market continues to attract foreign investors.

Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have led bipartisan meetings with lawmakers over the last two weeks to explore potential areas of agreement for a scaled-back energy and climate legislative package before the midterm elections.

Foreign investors in commercial real estate have long preferred to place their money in a small handful of top-tier cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

For thirty years, AFIRE (Association for International Real Estate Investors) has conducted an annual survey to understand the goals, challenges and long-term thinking of international investors in U.S. real estate. Show host Michael Bull interviews AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson on the results and insights from this year’s survey.

New favorites are emerging as international buyers plan bigger allocations this year.