CRE This Week - What's impacting the United States market?
June 1, 2026 - US commercial real estate news, macroeconomic indicators and market analysis.
Week of June 1, 2026
Welcome to the latest edition of CRE This Week, curated by Altus Group’s US research team.
Our team has handpicked pertinent and noteworthy market indicators, articles, original research, and significant industry dates that are critical to the US commercial real estate sector. We understand that your time is valuable, so we're excited to deliver research that helps you stay informed and saves you some time each Monday morning.
For more key economic indicators that matter to commercial real estate, see Top Indicators by Major Asset Type.
Economic print
Macro economic factors impacting CRE
S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index and New Home Sales
S&P Dow Jones Indices released March 2026 Case-Shiller results on May 27. The U.S. National Index posted a 0.7% annual gain, down from 0.8% in February, with more than half of the 20 tracked markets in negative territory. Chicago led at +6.1%, while Seattle (-2.5%), Denver (-2.0%), and Tampa (-1.9%) were among the weakest. With March CPI running roughly 2.6 percentage points above the home price gain, real home values have fallen for 10 consecutive months. Separately, the Census Bureau and HUD reported on May 28 that new single-family home sales fell 6.2% in April to a 622,000 annualized rate, 11.3% below a year ago, with inventory rising to 9.4 months of supply. The median sales price rose 2.2% year-over-year to $422,500, while the average price fell 1.1% annually to $508,800, suggesting more pressure at the higher end.
Together, the data confirm a housing market under meaningful stress. Falling real home values, rising months of supply, and declining sales volume all point in the same direction. At 9.4 months of supply, buyers have significant leverage, and builders are leaning on rate buydowns and concessions to move inventory. The lock-in effect continues to suppress existing home listings, and with the 30-year fixed rate rebounding to roughly 6.4% by the end of March, the affordability gap between ownership and renting remains wide. That gap continues to support multifamily demand, particularly in markets where for-sale supply is building, keeping more households in the rental pool near-term.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dipped 0.7 points to 93.1 in May, down from a revised 93.8 in April. The Present Situation Index fell 3.2 points to 121.2 on weaker views of current business and labor conditions, while the Expectations Index edged up 1.0 point to 74.4, still well below the 80 threshold historically associated with recession risk. Two-thirds of respondents cited rising prices as a driver of spending cutbacks, with oil, gas, and geopolitical conflict among the top concerns.
The sub-80 Expectations reading suggests tenants and businesses will stay cautious on expansion. The share of consumers calling jobs "plentiful" fell to 25.5% from 26.9%, adding to credit risk in consumer-facing assets. Non-essential retail and hospitality face the most direct pressure, while deteriorating income expectations complicate lease-up assumptions more broadly. A marginal uptick in six-month homebuying intentions offers a small positive for multifamily, though affordability remains the binding constraint.
Q1 2026 GDP and Personal Income & Outlays
The BEA released its Q1 2026 GDP second estimate and April Personal Income and Outlays report on May 28. GDP growth was revised down 0.4 percentage points to 1.6% annualized, reflecting weaker private inventory investment and softer consumer spending on services. Real final sales to private domestic purchasers held at 2.4%, and corporate profits rose $40.4 billion, a sharp deceleration from $246.9 billion in Q4 2025. The PCE price index for Q1 accelerated to 4.5% annualized, with core PCE revised up to 4.4%. On the income and outlays side, April disposable personal income fell 0.1%, real PCE rose just 0.1%, and the personal saving rate dropped to 2.6%. The April headline PCE price index rose 0.4% month-over-month and 3.8% year-over-year, with core PCE up 0.2% monthly and 3.3% annually.
The divergence between sectors carries uneven implications for CRE. Manufacturing strength supports near-term demand for industrial and logistics space, but much of the output gain reflects precautionary stockpiling rather than durable end-demand, so the signal for sustained warehouse leasing is limited. Service sector weakness is more consequential: slowing new business inflows, falling export activity, and job losses in services point to softening occupier demand in office, hospitality, and consumer-facing retail. The surge in input and output price inflation complicates the Fed's path, reinforcing a higher-for-longer rate posture that keeps borrowing costs elevated and caps cap rate compression. S&P Global estimates Q2 GDP growth will struggle to top 1% annualized, which, if realized, would further weigh on transaction volume and leasing momentum across most property types heading into the second half of the year.
News
News to know
News to know
'Safety in numbers': Why more architects are selling their firms | Bisnow, May 25, 2026
Architecture firm M&A is accelerating as AI disruption, development slowdowns, and generational succession push more owners toward deals. A 2025 AIA survey found 12% of commercial architecture firms were actively considering being acquired, up from 6% in 2018, with nearly two-thirds expecting M&A to increase over the next three years. Perkins&Will completed four acquisitions in 2025 after typically doing one to two per year, while CannonDesign has made eight over the past two years. Private equity acquisitions of AEC firms jumped 32.7% in 2025 per Capstone Partners, driving up valuations. Firms focused on multifamily, retail, and office are among the most likely sellers given current development slowdowns, while larger firms are using acquisitions to diversify sector exposure and build out AI capabilities.
Can this guy get people to live in America's emptiest downtown? | Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2026
Developer Asher Luzzatto has acquired four downtown Denver office buildings, representing more than 7% of the city's traditional downtown office stock, with plans to convert roughly half into approximately 1,100 apartments alongside mixed-use amenities. Denver's central business district carries the highest office vacancy rate among the top 50 U.S. cities at nearly 40%, per CBRE. Luzzatto paid $5.25 million for the two-tower Energy Center complex, a 97% discount to its 2013 purchase price, and $3.2 million for two additional buildings previously valued at $100 million in 2015. The Downtown Denver Development Authority approved a $63 million loan in March, its largest ever. Market-rate rents are projected to range from $1,700 for a studio to $4,500 for a three-bedroom, with 75 affordable units included. Key challenges include high construction costs, lender skepticism, and a $30 million bill for asbestos abatement and window replacements on just two of the buildings.
Canada used to send the US half its real estate money. No more | Bisnow, May 26, 2026
Canada-to-U.S. commercial real estate transaction volume fell 32% year-over-year to $5 billion for the 12 months ending in March, less than half the annual average invested by Canadians over the prior five years, per Colliers. While Canadians raised $13.4 billion to invest abroad last year, only 37% was allocated to U.S. assets, down from 54% the prior year. The pullback follows a year of tariff disputes and diplomatic friction under the Trump administration, which has prompted Canadian institutional investors and policymakers alike to pursue broader geographic diversification. Canada has historically been the largest single source of global capital into U.S. real estate, with $73 billion invested in American assets from 2019 to early 2025, four times more than any other country per JLL. Despite the drop in Canadian flows, total foreign investment in U.S. real estate rose 24% year-over-year through March to $25.9 billion, as other capital sources filled the gap.
Coworking growth continues across US | Commercial Property Executive, May 27, 2026
The U.S. coworking sector reached 165.6 million square feet across 9,254 locations as of April, per CoworkingCafe, representing 2.3 percent of total leasable office inventory. Manhattan led all markets with 12.8 million square feet across 309 locations, followed by Chicago at 9.2 million square feet and Los Angeles at 7.7 million square feet. Chicago posted the highest coworking penetration rate among major markets at 2.8 percent. Washington, D.C., had the lowest share among top-10 markets at 1.9 percent despite ranking fourth by total inventory. Denver and San Francisco rounded out the top 10 with 4.3 million and 3.9 million square feet, respectively.
Caesars Entertainment to be acquired by Fertitta in $17.6B all-cash deal | Connect CRE, May 28, 2026
Fertitta Entertainment has agreed to acquire Caesars Entertainment in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $17.6 billion, including the assumption of $11.9 billion in outstanding debt. The $31 per share price represents a 49% premium to Caesars' stock price on February 25, the last trading day before deal rumors surfaced. The combined company will operate 60 casino resorts alongside Fertitta's 600-plus entertainment outlets, connected through the Caesars Rewards loyalty network. The transaction includes a go-shop period through July 11 and is subject to Caesars shareholder approval. Financing will come from Fertitta equity, assumed Caesars debt, and new committed debt from a 10-bank syndicate.
Data center land sales totaled roughly $3.3 billion in Q1 2026, up 141% year-over-year, and accounted for approximately 30% of all development site spending, up from 19% in 2025, per Avison Young. The number of sites sold actually fell from 20 to 16, reflecting surging land values as power-ready sites grow scarce. Overall development site sales rose 55% year-over-year to $11.1 billion in Q1. In Northern Virginia, Amazon's data center arm paid $120 million for 44 acres in February, up from $39.5 million when the property last sold in 2021, while AWS paid $700 million for a separate campus entitled for up to 3.5 million square feet. Industrial development land sales also rose roughly 65% to $2.3 billion as automated warehouses compete with data centers for powered sites. Multifamily development land sales increased from $2 billion to $2.6 billion, and mixed-use site sales doubled to $2.4 billion, suggesting broader investor appetite for the next development cycle.
INSIGHTS Spotlight
Catch the latest research and insights from Altus
Podcast | What Q1 2026 ODCE and REIT data say about CRE right now
Retail on top. Office recovering asset by asset. Gateways outperforming Sun Belt in multifamily. What is the Q1 2026 ODCE data actually telling us about US CRE performance?
In the latest CRE Exchange, Altus Group's Alexander Jaffe, MAI Jaffe and Mike Amthor join the show to discuss the Q1 2026 NCREIF ODCE index results alongside public market signals from REIT earnings calls.
The conversation covers sector-by-sector performance, the significance of lighter CapEx spending this quarter, why vintage is dominating client conversations right now, and what the gap between ODCE stability and REIT optimism might signal for Q2.
Article | CRE debt markets entered a state of transition in Q1 2026
The broad-based improvement that defined CRE debt markets in 2025 gave way to a more divided market in Q1 2026.
Analysis by Omar Eltorai and Andrew Pabon indicates that floating and fixed-rate borrowers landed in very different places, and the gap between sectors widened.
Our Q1 2026 US Debt Capital Markets Survey captures 1,866 lending quotes from 110 CRE debt professionals. Read the full report - or sign up to participate in our Q2 survey.
Important dates
Upcoming data releases and events
Data releases (Times in EST)
Monday, June 1
10:00 AM: ISM Manufacturing (May)
10:00 AM: Construction Spending (Apr)
Tuesday, June 2
10:00 AM: Job Openings (Apr)
Wednesday, June 3
8:15 AM: ADP Employment (May)
10:00 AM: Factory Orders (Apr)
10:00 AM: ISM Services (May)
Thursday, June 4
8:30 AM: Initial Jobless Claims (May 30)
8:30 AM: U.S. Productivity (Q1)
Friday, June 5
8:30 AM: U.S. Employment Report (May)
3:00 PM: Consumer Credit (Apr)
Upcoming Industry Events
June 1 – June 4: NAREIT REITweek 2026 (New York, NY)
June 1 – June 4: NAREE 2026 (Miami, FL)
June 3 – June 4: Realcomm IBcon 2026 (San Diego, CA)
June 8 – June 10: CREFC Annual Conference (New York, NY)
June 27 – June 30: BOMA International Conference & Expo (Long Beach, CA)
About our research team
Omar Eltorai
Senior Director of Research
Altus Group
Omar Eltorai is a Research Director at Altus Group. With more than a decade of experience in the industry in investment management and financing roles,
Omar's focus is on macro, capital and market trends affecting the US CRE market. Beyond regularly authoring articles and reports, his commentary and analysis has been featured in various media publications, including: Wall Street Journal, Globe Street, and Yahoo! Finance.
Cole Perry
Associate Director of Research
Altus Group
Cole Perry is a Associate Director of Research with Altus Group's Research team. In this role, Cole delivers key insights into macroeconomics, capital markets, and the broader commercial real estate sector.
Cole boasts a rich background in Commercial Real Estate analytics with previous roles at CompStak and Brixmor Property Group. He holds dual M.S. degrees from Columbia University in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the authors and are not endorsed by Altus Group Limited, its affiliates and its related entities (collectively “Altus Group”). This publication has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest only and does not constitute professional advice or services of Altus Group. You should not act upon the information contained in this publication without obtaining specific professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained in this publication, or the suitability of the information for a particular purpose. To the extent permitted by law, Altus Group does not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences of you or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this publication or for any decision based on it. The distribution of this publication to you does not create, extend or revive a client relationship between Altus Group and you or any other person or entity. This publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or distributed in any form for any purpose without the express written consent of Altus Group.
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