DLA Piper: Multifamily and Data Center activity drives renewed momentum in US commercial real estate

In its annual Year-End Real Estate Trends Report, DLA Piper finds that the US commercial real estate market entered 2026 with clear signs of momentum, driven in part by increasing interest in the living and industrial sectors, as well as in alternative asset classes such as data centers.

The report analyzed more than 1,100 purchase and sale agreements and more than 650 property management agreements handled by DLA Piper’s US Real Estate practice from 2020 to 2025. Geographically, the most active market was the Sun Belt, followed by key Northeastern and West Coast regions – reflecting continued population growth in the South and sustained liquidity in major coastal gateways.

“As interest rates stabilize and the ‘bid-ask’ spread for many asset classes decreases, investment activity in US commercial is increasing, with many investors believing that we are at the start of a new phase that will offer attractive investment opportunities,” said Bryan Connolly, US Chair of the firm’s Real Estate practice.

Housing assets led amid sustained demographic demand

Multifamily housing was a cornerstone of the Real Estate group’s 2025 acquisition and disposition activity, representing 44 percent of transaction volume – up 5 percent from 2024 – and demonstrating ongoing investor interest in the living sector. Senior housing saw one of the most significant shifts, rising from a mid-teens percentage of the practice’s multi-family transactions in the previous two years to 29 percent in 2025, thus reflecting an enhanced focus on need-based rental and healthcare-adjacent strategies.

“The senior population in the US has been growing for several years at a rate that exceeds overall population growth,” Connolly said. “That demographic shift is shaping transaction activity.”

Other active asset classes in 2025 included:

• Industrial (17 percent, up 2 points)
• Mixed-use (4 percent, up 1 percentage point)

Asset classes showing reduced transaction volume year over year included medical office, general office, and retail.

Data center deal volume tripled over the last 24 months

Alternative and operational asset categories also evolved – most notably, the data center sector, which increased from 4 percent of the Real Estate group’s purchase and sale deal volume in 2023 to 12 percent in 2025, tripling in just two years.

“AI-driven demand is fundamentally changing how data centers are developed, financed, and operated,” said Connolly. “That evolution requires an integrated approach across real estate, energy, technology, and finance to reflect how these assets are being built, powered, and scaled.”

With more than 200 lawyers in the US and 500 globally, DLA Piper's market-leading Real Estate practice offers a full range of real estate services, including acquisitions and sales; single asset, programmatic and operating company joint ventures; real estate fund formation; public and private REITs; financing; zoning and development; construction and design; leasing and restructuring; and workouts. This highly ranked group represents many of the world’s leading real estate investors, asset managers, funds, lenders and developers in transactions and projects involving all asset classes in major markets throughout the world.