JLL’s Global Bid Intensity Index, a key indicator of capital markets momentum worldwide, showed signs of improvement in July—marking the first month-over-month increase since December. This shift highlights a return to more competitive bidder activity in the commercial real estate (CRE) sector, following a turbulent first half of 2025 that was impacted by bond market volatility and trade policy uncertainty.
“With no shortage of liquidity, institutional investors are returning to the market with more capital sources and a renewed appetite for real estate,” said Ben Breslau, Chief Research Officer at JLL. “While further recovery is expected to be gradual after moderating earlier this year, borrowing costs and real estate values in most markets have stabilized, so we expect momentum to pick up through the second half of the year.”
Despite ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainties, investors appear more willing to take on risk. According to Breslau, the enduring appeal of commercial real estate as a long-term store of value continues to attract capital flows. “As more investors move to a ‘risk-on’ mode, coupled with the exceptionally strong debt markets, we expect this will lead to continued growth in capital flows.”
The market’s growing acceptance of uncertainty as a standard business condition could point to a new phase of resilience and adaptability among investors in the CRE space.
