Expo Real 2025, the industry’s biggest annual gathering in Munich, drew 42,000 people and carried a different tone this year: quieter, more thoughtful, focused on what’s working.
Savills set the scale on day one, reporting global real estate at US$393 trillion, with Europe’s top six markets accounting for US$55 trillion. Yet the mood wasn’t about scale, it was about selectivity. After years of turbulence, investors have entered what many called the great recalibration, dividing between assets that meet modern standards and those that don’t.
Selective capital, steady logistics
Logistics dominated again, but focus has shifted from expansion to efficiency. Third-party logistics operators now account for 42 per cent of warehouse take-up in the US and about a third across Europe. Developers such as CTP and P3 Logistics are targeting brownfield sites with existing grid connections, where power infrastructure adds value.
One developer noted that 2% of its land bank could be developed as data centres, but that development costs for that type of building dwarf those of other development types.
A narrowing field
At a UK Cities panel, Bouinvest’s Mark Siezen said the number of “investable” countries has fallen from fifteen to around ten, as political and economic instability reshapes allocation strategies. He suggested the UK could gain from science-based businesses migrating from the US, drawn by policy stability and language. His warning against populist governments struck a chord: investors want predictability, not posturing.
ESG: from principle to prerequisite
Despite talk of the “death of ESG”, the consensus in Munich was that sustainability has matured. Deutsche Pfandbriefbank’s Thomas Köntgen said occupiers now drive the agenda, demanding efficient buildings, with lenders treating sustainability as a condition of finance, not a bonus.
The result is a two-tier market: modern, compliant assets attract funding, while secondary stock faces hard choices.
Climate, data and digital
Operational discussions were equally practical. Mount Street’s Jim Gott noted that climate modelling is now part of standard risk assessment. The buzz around AI has not subsided, but major investors agreed that data quality is the limiting factor. LIM’s Beverley Kilbride said smaller, targeted AI tools are proving easier to roll out, while Matt Edgar of PropTech firm Form Fighter cautioned that “automating a process is pointless unless the automation takes away the part that annoys people”.
Many described data as the industry’s new currency: those who can organise and interpret it will define the next cycle.
A market adapting, not drifting
Expo Real 2025 wasn’t about bold statements but measured progress. The industry accepts that the “rising tide” has gone. What remains is refinement, improving systems, tightening strategies, and aligning capital with long-term value.
Real estate is still adapting, still ambitious, but now performance means something simpler: doing the basics well, with the data to prove it.