Domestic buyers lead transaction activity as Australian commercial property sales hit $19.0 billion in H1

A series of needle-moving deals pushed the value of Australian commercial property transactions to $19.0 billion in H1, 2026 – 16% up on the corresponding period last year.

The preliminary CBRE data tallies office, retail, industrial & logistics, hotel and living sector deals. 

CBRE’s Pacific Head of Capital Markets Flint Davidson noted that the H1 numbers in CBRE’s Australian Capital Flows Report reflected a period of significant volatility in market conditions. 

“Following strong momentum and elevated transaction activity in the new year, we entered a period of disruption driven by interest rates, inflation, and conflict in the Middle East before a level of stabilisation more recently,” Mr Davidson said.

“Against that backdrop, the fact that volumes still increased by 16% y-o-y points to a market that is becoming more resilient to increasingly common shocks. Looking ahead, we expect a substantial pipeline of property assets to be brought to market in H2.”

Retail was the most traded sector in H1, with $6.1 billion in assets changing hands - up 4% y-o-y. This included Lendlease’s $1.2 billion sale to GPT of half stakes in Sunshine Plaza at Maroochydore in Queensland and Macarthur Square at Campbelltown in Sydney’s south-west.

Industrial & Logistics ranked second with $5.5 billion in trades, buoyed by Goodman Group’s $2.65 billion deal with Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company to take control of a series of large warehouse developments. Volumes for Industrial were up by 5% y-o-y.

With offices coming back into focus, office sales were up 15% y-o-y to $4.1 billion - driven mostly by major deals in Sydney such as 100 Mount Street in North Sydney, which sold for $558 million to Investa, BGO and Cliffbrook Capital.

Meanwhile activity in the living and hotel sectors rose significantly, albeit off last year’s low base, with $2.0 billion in living deals (+93% y-o-y) and $1.2 billion in in hotel trades (+85% y-o-y).

The H1 numbers also highlight a rise in activity from domestic purchasers, with the level of offshore buying dropping 8% y-o-y to $4.0 billion – accounting for just 21% of the total sales volume.

CBRE’s Head of Capital Markets Research Tom Broderick said, “The clear trend for H1 is that domestic institutions and fund managers are getting more active while investment from offshore groups has slowed. Volatility at the global level often causes investors to pause and concentrate on their home markets, which is what we are seeing so far this year.”

The US has been the No. 1 source market over the past 12 months, accounting for $2.7 billion in transactions, followed by Japan ($1.5 billion) and Singapore ($1.5 billion).