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Artificial intelligence (AI) represents the latest in a long line of general‑purpose technologies. Like electrification, computing and the internet before it, its economic and built environment impacts will unfold gradually, unevenly and nonlinearly.

Rather than attempting to predict how AI itself will evolve, this research focuses on how firms, sectors and the macroeconomy will respond to AI – and how those responses will translate into CRE fundamentals, including: 

• Productivity, growth and interest rates 
• Employment trends and space demand 
• Vacancy and absorption for major CRE sectors 
• Capital markets behavior 
• Differentiation in performance across assets and geographies 

Why this matters: The future of commercial real estate will depend less on AI’s technical capabilities and more on how productivity gains flow through hiring, revenue growth and capital allocation – dynamics tracked in real time by the AI Impact Barometer.

The APAC office fit-out market enters 2026 navigating a complex and shifting environment. While cost escalation moderated in several markets through late 2025, underlying pressures remain firmly in place, with local-currency fit-out costs continuing to rise across much of the region due to labour constraints, material pricing, and the growing complexity of mechanical, electrical, and technology systems. However, this inflationary trend is not consistently reflected in USD-denominated benchmarks, where currency depreciation in several APAC economies has dampened apparent year-on-year cost growth, creating a divergence with important implications for regional and global capital planning.

• China’s commercial REIT market is entering a new phase of growth, driven by policy support, expanding asset classes, and increasing emphasis on institutional-grade asset management and value creation.

• A multi-level REIT ecosystem is taking shape, with institutional and private REITs playing a critical role in capital recycling, operational enhancement, and the maturation of income-generating assets.

• China’s real estate investment landscape is undergoing a structural reset, with domestic capital, selective deployment strategies, and REIT-based exit pathways becoming increasingly central to market recovery and long-term resilience.

• High-growth sectors such as data centres, renewable energy, and experience-led retail are reshaping China’s real assets market, supported by technology adoption, evolving consumer behaviour, and the transition toward cleaner energy infrastructure.

• The C-REIT ecosystem is evolving toward a more operationally driven and institutionally scaled model, with opportunities emerging from distressed assets, urban renewal, and professional asset management.