Offices return to cross-border investors’ favour and capital flows become more geographically diverse
The office sector attracted ($22.3bn) of global cross-border investment – almost a quarter of all cross-border turnover – in the first half of 2026, its highest share since 2022, says Savills, as ‘traditional’ real estate sectors draw the attention of investors this year.
According to the international real estate advisor, offices received 22% of cross-border investment (H1 2025: 19%), and retail 19% (H1 2025: 16%) at $19bn, both increasing market share globally so far this year. Large office transactions in Japan and Singapore helped to drive the former sector’s resurgence, as investors have recognised continued demand for high‑quality, well‑located offices, supported by solid rental growth and a constrained development pipeline, says Savills.
Cross-border capital accounted for 22.5% of global CRE investment activity in H1 2026, says Savills – its highest share since 2020 – indicating little sensitivity to heightened geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty, although there has been a change in destination. According to Savills, the concentration ratio of the top five global markets has fallen from around 55% pre-2020 to approximately 50% in 2026, suggesting that capital flows are becoming more geographically diverse. Nonetheless, the US has remained the largest single destination for cross-border capital, receiving approximately 16% ($16.1bn) of all cross-border investment so far this year, and Europe’s share has remained broadly stable at around 45% ($46 billion). In Asia Pac, Japan continued to attract the most cross-border interest in H1, with an almost 10% share of global turnover ($10bn) – around double its long-term average – with large office transactions including US-based Brookfield acquiring the Dentsu Headquarters building in Tokyo in February for over 300bn yen ($1.9bn). Singapore also saw a 357% increase in turnover YOY, from $1.4bn in H1 2025 to $6.4bn in H1 2026. Australia was APAC’s second-largest destination in H1 and has steadily increased its share of global cross-border investment in recent years, supported by a diverse mix of global investors, including US private equity, Canadian pension funds and Asia-Pacific institutional capital.
The UK remained the world’s second largest destination for cross-border investment in H1, although inbound investment fell approximately 25% year-on-year from $13.5bn in H1 2025 to $10.4bn in H1 2026. Offshore investors remain net UK buyers, but the gap between acquisitions and disposals is the narrowest in over a decade. US investors continue to dominate, extending a post-pandemic trend towards greater concentration of American capital. Savills says that lower activity largely reflects a shortage of major portfolio and corporate transactions in the UK market, particularly in the industrial and retail sectors.
Rasheed Hassan, head of global cross border investment, Savills, says: “Geographically, much of the commentary this year around global capital flows has implied that cross-border investors are being more selective and focusing on a fewer number of ‘high-conviction’ markets, however this is not necessarily backed by the data. Our analysis shows that capital flows are becoming more diverse, focused more on the markets that are showing solid fundamentals, with the US, UK, Japan, Australia and Southern Europe attracting growing interest.”
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