Investment sales volume topped $96.2 billion in Q2. Overall, volume was up 2% compared to last year. A lack of major transactions, such as Blackstone’s purchase of AIR last year, led to a 20% decline in June volume. Recent months have also recorded lower volumes, but revisions erased those losses. Deal counts continue to be muted, with the past 12 months running just ahead of 2020’s monthly average. Record-setting stock markets have investors more optimistic, despite ongoing policy uncertainty.

Colliers Insight
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Office

Office has posted the strongest gains of all asset classes, up 51% on $18.1 billion in sales. While this is a positive sign, it’s important to remember that volume is coming off recent lows. In 2019, quarterly volume averaged twice current levels. CBD assets are the main driver of recent growth, up 74% compared to last year.

Manhattan is far and away the leader in investment sales volume for the first half, followed by East Bay, Los Angeles, Houston, and San Jose. East Bay and Fort Lauderdale set records for volume through the first six months of the year.

Industrial 

Industrial volume declined quarter-over-quarter but was up slightly from the same time last year, with $22.9 billion in sales. Year-to-date activity is running ahead of 2024. MSCI is noting a rise in cap rates, which should encourage some buyers to move off the sidelines. Dallas was the top market for first-half volume, with Northern New Jersey, Houston, Los Angeles, and Phoenix rounding out the top five. Investors are also expanding their targets, with several entrants in the top 25 that did not make last year’s list.

A number of markets set all-time year-to-date volume records, including Orange County, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, Nashville, the D.C. Virginia suburbs, and Savannah. 

Multifamily 

On the surface, multifamily appears to have pulled back in Q2 compared to last year. However, that interpretation depends on how the market is analyzed. Total volume of $35.1 billion was down 14% compared to 2024 Q2. This decline is primarily the result of a lack of entity deals, such as AIR’s privatization, which occurred in 2024. Portfolio and entity deal volume fell 57%, while single-asset sales rose 15%. The latter stat is more telling of the market’s overall health.

Dallas is the clear-cut volume leader, with $5.6 billion in activity, more than double that of Seattle. Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Phoenix round out the top five.

Retail 

Retail posted the second-strongest gains of all asset classes, up 30% year-over-year with $14.7 billion in volume. In a repeat of last year, Q2 volume pulled back compared to Q1. That said, retail showed strength across both single asset deals (up 28%) and portfolio and entity deals (up 44%), indicating a broadly improving market.

The top five volume leaders in the first half were Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Manhattan, and Phoenix. The privatization of ROIC was a major contributor to activity in several markets. Seattle, Phoenix, Portland, and Washington, D.C., all posted record first-half sales volume. Phoenix achieved this without a boost from portfolio or entity deals and leads year-to-date in individual deal volume.

Hospitality 

With $5.5 billion in volume, hospitality fell 26% from last year. Year-to-date, it is the only asset class to post a decline, although the drop was marginal at 5%. Portfolio and entity deals were virtually nonexistent in Q2, down 73%. Single-asset activity decreased 17% compared to last year but improved from 2025 Q1.

This asset class is more responsive to changing economic conditions due to the short-term nature of room nights. Phoenix led all markets in first-half volume, nearly double that of Atlanta. Manhattan, Palm Beach County, and Dallas ranked third through fifth, respectively. Fort Collins cracked the top 25 with a record pace of $140 million in first-half volume.