Commercial property transactions across Australia climbed to 19 billion dollars in the first half of 2026, a 16 percent increase from a year earlier, as domestic buyers took a bigger share of a market that offshore investors have been quietly stepping back from.
Retail assets led the deal flow at 6.1 billion dollars, followed by industrial and logistics property at 5.5 billion dollars and office at 4.1 billion dollars. The living sector, which covers build to rent and similar residential style assets, nearly doubled to 2 billion dollars, while hotel transactions rose 85 percent to 1.2 billion dollars.
Offshore investors pull back
Foreign buyers accounted for just 4 billion dollars of activity, or about 21 percent of total volume, down 8 percent from the prior year. Domestic institutional investors and fund managers filled the gap, according to CBRE, which tracked the figures.
"Volumes still increased by 16 per cent year on year, which points to a market that is becoming more resilient," said Flint Davidson of CBRE. Colleague Tom Broderick added that domestic institutions and fund managers are getting more active while investment from offshore groups has slowed.
The deals behind the numbers
Several large transactions underpinned the half year total. Goodman Group struck a 2.65 billion dollar industrial deal with Washington H. Soul Pattinson, while Lendlease sold a 1.2 billion dollar retail portfolio to GPT Group. In North Sydney, the office tower at 100 Mount Street changed hands for 558 million dollars, purchased by a group made up of Investa, BGO and Cliffbrook Capital.
