U.S. commercial real estate transaction volume exceeded $545 billion last year, representing an increase of more than 20%. While data centers captured headlines, transaction growth remained significant even when that sector is excluded from the totals.

Office, retail, and senior housing assets all saw renewed trading activity. This increase does not reflect speculative capital reentering the market, but rather a growing consensus between buyers and sellers around current valuation benchmarks.

After an extended period of bid-ask disconnect, market participants are increasingly willing to transact based on today’s income, replacement costs, and risk profiles. The result is not a surge in pricing, but a clearing of assets where underwriting assumptions are realistic and defensible.

The rise in volume is a signal of functional price discovery, not market exuberance.

➤ TAKEAWAY

Deals are closing because pricing is clearing — not because sentiment has turned optimistic.