CRE Investment Rises to 115B in Q2 2025

CRE investment hit 115B in Q2 2025 with multifamily and office leading gains while retail and hospitality lagged behind.

August 26, 2025

Nina Dale

Transaction volume reached $115B in Q2 2025, up 3.8% year-over-year, led by multifamily (+39.5%) and office (+11.8%) deals.
Pricing surged, with the median price PSF climbing 13.9% annually, led by multifamily, retail, and office.
Hospitality and retail underperformed, while subsectors such as bars & restaurants, automotive, and storage saw the strongest YoY price growth.
Metro trends diverged, with most coastal markets outperforming, but New York and San Francisco lagging behind the national average.

Key Takeaways

A Modest Rebound in CRE

US CRE investment sales edged higher in Q2 2025, according to Altus Group’s quarterly report. Aggregate transaction volume hit $115B, a 3.8% increase from the same quarter in 2024. The recovery was concentrated in multifamily and office, which together represented nearly half of all deal activity.

Sector Breakdown

Multifamily: $34.1B in sales (+39.5% YoY), the strongest contributor to growth.
Office: $16.7B in sales (+11.8% YoY), with medical office leading pricing gains.
Industrial: $18.8B (-6.3% YoY), with warehouse/distribution pricing still up 10% annually.
Retail: $17.6B (-14.2% YoY), though bars & restaurants saw standout price growth (+42.2%).
Hospitality: $4.4B (-20.9% YoY), marking the steepest decline among major sectors.
Commercial General + Mixed Use: $8.2B (+11.3% YoY), showing resilience amid uneven sector performance.

Number of US commercial properties transacted by sector from 2014 to Q2 2025, highlighting multifamily and office as leading segments.

Pricing Momentum

Pricing strengthened across most property types:

Median price PSF rose 5% QoQ and 13.9% YoY.
Multifamily (+18.8%), Retail (+18.5%), and Office (+15.3%) saw the sharpest annual increases.
Subsector standouts included bars & restaurants (+42.2%), automotive (+36.6%), and storage (+27.3%).
Manufacturing was the only subsector to decline in value, down 14.6% YoY.

Median US commercial real estate pricing by sector since 2014, with industrial and multifamily leading long-term growth through Q2 2025.

Market Dynamics

Most major coastal metros beat the national average for transaction activity, with Miami, Washington, and Philadelphia posting strong YoY price increases. In contrast, New York and San Francisco underperformed by up to 10% below the national change.

Daily deal activity picked up compared to Q1 2025 but still trails pre-pandemic 2015–2019 averages. Meanwhile, the median building size traded grew across nearly all property types, led by office (+6.8%) and commercial general (+8.9%).

Cumulative dollar volume of US single-property transactions in 2025 compared with prior years, showing pacing below peak 2021–2022 levels.

Why It Matters

The Q2 data signals investor confidence returning to core sectors like multifamily and office, even as retail and hospitality continue to lag. With property prices rising at double-digit annual rates in most categories, capital is selectively chasing growth areas while avoiding risk-heavy subsectors.