Global commercial real estate investment has rebounded rapidly from the pandemic. According to the global brief from CBRE, global investment increased 95% in the third quarter with a total of $350 billion in investment volume. The activity brought the year-to-date investment volume to $800 billion, a 44% increase from 2020 activity and a 3% increase from 2019.

This investment activity doesn't only indicate a recovery from the pandemic, but it also represents a return to pre-pandemic investment activity. In all three regions overviewed in the brief, Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, investment activity was on par with 2019 activity. The report attributes the surge to widespread vaccinations and the subsiding delta variant. Ample liquidity and low bond yields are also driving investment activity.

While investor confidence has returned to the market, strategies shifted during the pandemic. Industrial and multifamily are by far the most popular assets. Interestingly, despite the global surge in ecommerce demand, multifamily acquisitions drove the high investment volumes, particularly in US, Germany and Sweden.