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Morgan Stanley projects that annual investment by the largest cloud and technology providers will exceed $800 billion in 2026, nearly double 2025 levels. Microsoft and Meta added approximately $120 billion in future data center lease commitments in their most recently reported quarters, pushing total future lease obligations among major cloud providers above $850 billion.

Retail real estate has always depended on a mix of data and instinct. Today, AI is balancing the scales, making psychographic and persona data more available and actionable, while human observation remains essential for reading emotion, context, and intent in the moment. For retailers, it’s not a question of choosing one over the other but learning how to combine them to make better site decisions and stronger leasing commitments.

North Carolina and Texas continue to lead in growth and business formation, reinforcing capital inflows, though fiscal exposure and macroeconomic sensitivity require more disciplined pricing. Gateway markets such as California and New York still anchor global capital, maintaining deep liquidity and institutional relevance despite affordability, labor, and cyclicality concerns. High-trade states offer growth and industrial demand but add volatility tied to tariffs and geopolitical shifts.

America’s retail delivery networks are welcoming a new fleet of autonomous drones. Imagine cooking dinner and realizing you’re missing a key ingredient. A drone-enabled retailer could deliver it to your doorstep in just fifteen minutes. It may sound like a scenario from a science-fiction story, but it’s quickly becoming a real-world retail solution. Testing and implementation are underway in the United States, although the market still lags behind China’s more advanced drone-delivery sector.

Pricing trends and transaction activity continue to shape how the market evolves. At Colliers, we analyze these signals to interpret shifts across U.S. commercial real estate. Here’s what the latest MSCI data reveals. Investment volume reached $113.7 billion, up 9% year over year, marking the third consecutive quarter of near- or double-digit gains as the recovery from the 2023-2024 lows continues.

Craig Hurvitz › Craig brings 20 years of commercial real estate research experience to his role as Director, National Industrial Research for Colliers' national team. Utilizing his strong background in statistics, analytics, marketing, and real estate development, Craig is instrumental in growing and supporting Colliers' national industrial real estate business.

July 22, 2026 Highlights | Occupier | Office Explore the latest key statistics and Colliers’ outlook for the U.S. office market. Click the data you want to review or scroll. Marianne Skorupski › Marianne Skorupski drives national thought leadership, sharing her expertise on office trends, and supporting key client-facing business development efforts.

Fundraising totaled $92.6 billion in H1 2026, down 38% year over year and marking the lowest first-half volume in nine years. Approximately 70% of funds met or exceeded their target size, reflecting stronger investor conviction in top-performing managers. Average fundraising periods fell to 18.1 months from 23.8 months in 2025, signaling improved efficiency. Capital remains concentrated among established sponsors, while the pipeline of mega-funds remains limited.

Few retailers have made the unplanned purchase feel as inevitable as Target. Shoppers came for toothpaste and left with a candle, a throw pillow, and something from a designer collaboration they had not expected to find. That combination of utility and discovery turned a Target run into a cultural ritual, and, for landlords and co-tenants, a reliable driver of basket size and dwell time.

When a manufacturer announces a $1 billion campus and 1,200 new jobs, the response is immediate: economic development teams mobilize, governors hold press conferences, and consultants engage early in the process. Yet a far more common scenario receives far less attention — a successful manufacturer expanding from one facility to two, adding perhaps 150 jobs and entering a new market for the first time.