US commercial real estate market size: September 2026

By Daniela Pedroza|Categories: Blog, CRE Insights|

The U.S. commercial real estate market was worth about $22.5 trillion at the end of 2023. That’s the most recent estimate covering all commercial property in the country.

To put that number in context, we compiled data from eight research sources published between 2019 and September 2026, including the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Nareit, MSCI, and Altus Group. We grouped the data into three types of measures: broad asset-value estimates for the full property stock, estimates of professionally managed real estate, and transaction volume. Each type uses its own coverage and methodology, so we report them separately and don’t combine them into a single market-size figure or calculate growth rates across studies.

Below, you’ll find how the total has grown since 2018, how much of it institutions manage for investors, which property types sold the most in the first half of 2026, and which metros led in sales volume, including where Charlotte ranks. The total dates to Q4 2023 because no newer estimate of the full U.S. property stock was available as of September 2026. The institutional figures cover 2025, and the transaction data runs through the first half of 2026.

Latest U.S. commercial real estate market size benchmark: Q4 2023

The broad benchmark is the only one that covers the entire U.S. property stock, and no newer version has been published since Q4 2023. The table below shows it alongside three narrower, more recent measures of institutional ownership and sales activity.

The U.S. Commercial Real Estate Market, 2026 Research Update

Measure	Latest reported value	Data period	What the figure measures
Total U.S. CRE asset value	$22.5 trillion	Q4 2023	Broad estimated value of the U.S. commercial property stock
Professionally managed U.S. real estate	$5.1 trillion	2025	Property managed by institutions for investment returns
U.S. REIT industry CRE asset estimate	More than $4.5 trillion	September 2025	Gross CRE assets associated with listed and non-listed public and private equity and mortgage REITs; not directly comparable with the broad property-stock estimate
Annual U.S. CRE transaction volume	$560.2 billion	2025	Dollar value of properties sold during the year

The $5.1 trillion institutional estimate comes from MSCI’s analysis of professionally managed real estate, so it’s a subset of the broad market. Nareit reports that the U.S. REIT industry represented more than $4.5 trillion in gross commercial real estate assets as of September 2025, counting both equity and mortgage REITs. Nareit doesn’t present this as a directly comparable estimate of U.S.-located property stock. Altus Group recorded $560.2 billion in 2025 transactions, which equals about 2.5% of the Q4 2023 broad-market benchmark. Because the two figures cover different periods, we use that ratio only to show relative size. It isn’t a same-period turnover rate.

U.S. commercial real estate value over time: 2018–2023

Published benchmarks show the market’s estimated nominal value rising from 2018 to 2023. Each one comes from a different study and dataset, so the table below shows scale over time and can’t give a precise annual appreciation rate.

The U.S. Commercial Real Estate Market Value Benchmarks, 2018–2023

Benchmark period	Estimated value	Reported range
2018	$16.0 trillion	$14.4T–$17.0T
Q2 2021	$20.7 trillion	$18.0T–$22.0T
Q4 2023	$22.5 trillion	Not reported

Nareit’s 2018 study estimated a midpoint of $16 trillion using a bottom-up approach based mainly on CoStar data. Its 2021 update raised the point estimate to $20.7 trillion and called $18 trillion to $22 trillion the highly likely range. The Federal Reserve benchmark cited by the St. Louis Fed put the market at $22.5 trillion by Q4 2023.

Each later publication reported a higher point estimate. We don’t use these benchmarks to calculate a market growth rate, because their market mix, coverage, and valuation methodologies aren’t consistent enough for that.

Professionally managed U.S. real estate market size: 2025

Institutionally managed property gives a narrower and more current view of the investable market. MSCI estimated that the United States accounted for $5.1 trillion of the $13.5 trillion global professionally managed universe in 2025.

The Professionally Managed Real Estate Market, 2025

Market	Value	Share of global total
United States	$5.1 trillion	37.8%
Americas	$5.6 trillion	41.5%
Global	$13.5 trillion	100%

The U.S. made up about 91.1% of the professionally managed Americas market. MSCI also found that the U.S. market was larger than the next four national markets combined, though its share of the global universe slipped slightly as other regions grew.

This institutional segment matters to investors, and it leaves out much of the privately held and owner-occupied property counted in the broader $22.5 trillion estimate. If you’re deciding whether to lease or buy, treat these figures as background on the capital markets. They won’t tell you what a specific building is worth. Local data does that, and our Charlotte commercial real estate services cover how we help businesses search for, lease, and buy property in the Charlotte market.

U.S. commercial real estate transactions by sector: H1 2026

Sales activity is a measure of liquidity, separate from total market value. MSCI recorded $279.3 billion in U.S. deal volume in the first half of 2026, up 23% from the same period in 2025.

The U.S. Commercial Real Estate Transaction Market by Sector, H1 2026

Sector	Deal volume	Share of total	Year-over-year change
Apartments	$72.1 billion	25.8%	+6%
Industrial	$65.4 billion	23.4%	+31%
Office	$40.1 billion	14.4%	+14%
Retail	$35.9 billion	12.9%	+8%
Senior housing and care	$21.8 billion	7.8%	+135%
Development sites	$20.2 billion	7.2%	+18%
Hotels	$15.4 billion	5.5%	+28%
Data centers	$8.5 billion	3.0%	+476%
Total	$279.3 billion	100%	+23%

Apartments and industrial properties made up 49.2% of H1 volume. Data centers posted the fastest percentage increase, but at $8.5 billion their volume was still much smaller than the apartment and industrial totals. That spread is why one national number can’t describe every property type: investor demand, pricing, and liquidity vary by sector. Our look at small-bay warehouses in Charlotte shows how demand in one local industrial niche can move differently from broader CRE conditions.

Leading U.S. commercial real estate investment markets: H1 2026

National volume was concentrated in large, liquid metros, and sector-specific deals reshuffled the ranking. Data-center activity in Northern Virginia moved the Washington, D.C., Virginia suburbs into first place, with Dallas close behind.

The Leading U.S. Commercial Real Estate Investment Markets, H1 2026

Rank	Market	Sales volume
1	Washington, D.C., Virginia suburbs	$11.461 billion
2	Dallas	$11.431 billion
3	Chicago	$9.634 billion
4	Manhattan	$9.403 billion
5	Atlanta	$9.031 billion
6	Los Angeles	$9.017 billion
7	Houston	$8.524 billion
8	Northern New Jersey	$7.898 billion
9	Phoenix	$6.815 billion
10	Boston	$5.929 billion
23	Charlotte	$3.092 billion

Charlotte, where we’re based, ranked 23rd with approximately $3.092 billion in H1 2026 sales. That’s meaningful investment activity for a market outside the national top 10, and the figure doesn’t include leasing transactions or properties that didn’t sell. If you’re comparing Charlotte submarkets, request a free customized market report and we’ll pull together property-level availability and local conditions for your search.