Investor competition for commercial real estate sees strongest growth in a year

Our take

This is a US-market story, but South African commercial property investors and fund managers should pay attention — here's why it matters locally. Firstly, global capital flows influence SA's listed property sector (REITs on the JSE). When institutional money floods back into CRE internationally, it signals renewed risk appetite that can spill over into emerging-market property assets, including SA REITs like Growthpoint, Redefine, and Hyprop. Secondly, the sectoral trends mirror what SA is experiencing. Industrial and logistics assets — particularly around Gauteng's east rand, Cape Town's Bellville corridor, and Durban's Dube TradePort — have been the darlings of local commercial property for several years, driven by e-commerce and supply-chain investment. Retail is also showing resilience in SA, with dominant regional malls reporting improved foot traffic and trading density post-pandemic. Thirdly, the multifamily weakness in the US (oversupply of new units) is a cautionary tale for SA's build-to-rent developers, who are scaling up in Cape Town and Johannesburg. For SA landlords and commercial investors: the global CRE recovery supports a cautiously optimistic outlook, but local interest rates and load-shedding legacy costs remain the primary variables to watch before committing capital.