- CRE Daily
- Posts
- DFW Leads 89% Jump as CRE Deals Top $182B
DFW Leads 89% Jump as CRE Deals Top $182B
Fueled by a red-hot Dallas market, U.S. CRE investment surged in the first half of the year.
Jordan B.
August 04, 2025
Together with
Good morning. Commercial real estate deal activity roared back in H1 2025, with a 25% jump in sales volume—thanks to a booming Dallas-Fort Worth market and renewed confidence in multifamily and office sectors.
Today’s issue is brought to you by Agrippa—an AI-powered platform that strategically connects commercial real estate capital seekers with capital providers.
🎙️This week on No Cap podcast, Craig Deitelzweig of Marx Realty reveals how “hotelizing” office buildings is unlocking $50+ PSF rent premiums and rewriting the rules of tenant experience.
Market Snapshot
|
| ||||
|
|
DEAL ACTIVITY
CRE Investment Sales Reignite, Led by Dallas and Multifamily Surge
Fueled by a red-hot Dallas market, U.S. CRE investment surged in the first half of the year.
By the numbers: Investment sales hit $182.4B, up 25% YOY, with nearly 12,500 transactions—a 15% increase. Still, annualized totals point to a potential 1% dip in dollar volume and 7% drop in sales count vs. 2024. But Avison Young expects a stronger second half, following a sluggish Q1 rebound.
Leading the way: DFW topped the nation with $13.5B in sales—up 89% YOY and 57% more than San Francisco. Multifamily drove growth with $6.3B across 153 deals (up 140% and 90%), while development site volume jumped 681%, even as deal count fell—pointing to rising land prices.
Signs of life: Office activity picked up in New York, L.A., and D.C., with a quarter of NYC deals going to end users. All three of the largest U.S. office deals were in California and acquired by occupiers—a vote of confidence in long-term usage.
Multifamily momentum: 2025 deliveries are expected to hit a record high, but 2026 starts could fall over 50% due to high costs, tariffs, and oversupply fears. Major metros like Chicago, L.A., and NYC remain tight, with <5% vacancy.
➥ THE TAKEAWAY
The bigger picture: Private buyers still lead, but institutional capital is returning in markets like DFW, D.C., and Denver (41% of H1 volume), as rising multifamily demand and owner-user office deals signal early signs of recovery.
TOGETHER WITH AGRIPPA
Tailored CRE Deal Flow. Proven Results for Top-Tier Investors.
Institutional investors, family offices, and HNW individuals use Agrippa to access vetted CRE opportunities spanning all asset classes nationwide.
🏢 Proven Performance: Agrippa recently powered a $45M ground-lease transaction. Real results.
🤖 AI-Curated Deal Flow: Preferences and activity determine deal flow. No spam.
🧠 Smart Feedback, Smarter Decisions: Dynamic scoring highlights the best opportunities first. No guesswork.
💬 Direct Communication: Engage one-on-one. No intermediaries.
⌛ Join Agrippa: Find your next strategic partnership—at no cost.
*This is a paid advertisement. Please see the full disclosure at the bottom of the newsletter.
✍️ Editor’s Picks
Capital playbook: Discover the proven strategies for accessing your share of the $7 trillion retail capital opportunity before your competitors do without adding operational headaches. (sponsored)
Steady fundamentals: Despite economic headwinds from tariffs and policy shifts, US CRE fundamentals remain stable, with pockets of strength in office, multifamily, and data centers.
Delinquency climb: The US CMBS delinquency rate rose to 7.23% in July 2025, its fifth straight monthly increase, driven primarily by a 24 bps uptick in multifamily distress.
Debt diversification: Middle-market and CRE CLOs are becoming key private credit tools, offering yield-hungry investors access to diversified business loans and transitional real estate.
Profit recovery: Real estate brokerages are seeing improved profitability in 2025, with May’s EBITDA margin hitting a 12-month high of 3.5%.
Development drag: New tariffs on building materials and tighter immigration enforcement are set to raise construction costs and labor shortages.
🏘️ MULTIFAMILY
Building benefits: New housing construction, especially in high-supply metros, has been most effective at slowing rent growth for older, more affordable apartments.
Boise bump: Multifamily rents in Boise hit their highest level in nearly three years in Q225, as slowing supply and strong absorption drove up occupancy.
Preservation play: Horning’s acquisition of a 288-unit Hyattsville apartment complex marks its largest deal ever and a strategic shift toward preserving affordable housing.
🏭 Industrial
Pipeline reset: After years of record-setting industrial construction, 2025 marks a return to pre-pandemic supply levels.
Robot revolution: Amazon has deployed its 1 millionth warehouse robot and is pouring over $32B into automation, data centers, and same-day delivery infrastructure.
Platform buildout: Cresa has launched a new data center division led by a longtime Newmark executive, signaling a strategic move into one of CRE’s fastest-growing sectors.
Data scaling: Equinix plans to spend up to $5B annually through 2029 on data center development, doubling down on enterprise AI demand.
🏬 RETAIL
Fur real: High-tech veterinary clinics are filling empty retail spaces as rising pet ownership and shifting generational attitudes drive demand for premium animal healthcare.
Property haul: Agree Realty shelled out nearly $76M for a 10-property, single-tenant retail portfolio spanning five states.
🏢 OFFICE
Dallas deal: Cousins Properties acquired The Link, a 292K SF Class A office tower in Uptown Dallas, for $218M—the metro’s largest office deal so far in 2025.
Plano push: Insurance brokerage Brown & Brown has leased 41K SF at KBS’ Legacy Town Center in Plano, further reinforcing the North Dallas suburbs’ role in sustaining the Metroplex office market.
That's a wrap: Tishman Speyer is offloading Maple Plaza for over $200M, wrapping up its Beverly Hills office selloff.
Medical squeeze: Medical office building sales hit a nine-year low in Q225, even as demand and occupancy climb to record highs.
🏨 HOSPITALITY
Luxury resilience: Hotel sales dipped in H125 amid geopolitical unrest and economic uncertainty, but luxury assets outperformed economy properties as high-income travel demand held steady.
Travel trends: US hotel performance stabilized after two weeks of declines, with leisure demand and concert-driven weekends offsetting weak midweek business travel.
A MESSAGE FROM AIRGARAGE
How Data-Driven Management Transformed BPG’s Parking Revenue
BPG 360 upgraded their parking experience—and their bottom line.
By replacing gates and spreadsheets with AirGarage’s LPR tech and automated billing, they eliminated delays, improved tenant satisfaction, and grew NOI by 20–30% portfolio-wide. AirGarage’s system gave BPG real-time insight, demand-based pricing, and reliable enforcement—all with a better user experience.
More income, fewer complaints, and a smoother operation—all from a smarter parking platform.
*This is a paid advertisement. Please see the full disclosure at the bottom of the newsletter.
📈 CHART OF THE DAY
Texas leads the nation in reshoring gains for 2025 with over 40,000 jobs, followed by a strong showing from southeastern states like South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama, as manufacturers seek pro-business environments and lower costs.
You currently have 0 referrals, only 1 away from receiving Multifamily Stress Test Model.
What did you think of today's newsletter? |
Reply