Data center sales helped propel July commercial real estate transaction volume to its highest level since 2005, replacing a previous high from 2022 as commercial real estate capital markets remain active despite bond market volatility. 

July sales volume totaled $74.4B in June, with BlackRock’s acquisition of Aligned Data Centers and other deals in the sector accounting for $33.8B of that total, according to MSCI’s monthly Capital Trends report. Total volume was up 78% year-over-year but is up just 1% when excluding data centers. Pricing was also flat compared to last July. 

Analysts for J.P. Morgan wrote in a note to investors Tuesday morning that revisions to the monthly data typically provide roughly 30% uplift to monthly transaction volumes, which means the quarterly total “points to strong momentum” headed into the third quarter.  

“We thus feel fine wrapping up summer and heading into the fall,” they wrote, adding that REITs have signaled strong activity in recent months. The analysts said the interest rate environment, with 10-year Treasury notes trading above 4.5%, was the only flag to be raised. “The macro picture will remain important over the next few months, especially given the seasonally heavy nature of the last few months of the year.”

Transaction volume in July was up 1,911% for data centers and 376% for portfolio and entity-level deals, which fueled the year-over-year beat. Industrial was flat with $9B in sales volume, while apartment sales slipped 16% compared to last year and retail sales were down 13%. 

July sales of office buildings in urban cores jumped 48% from the previous year to $2.2B, while suburban offices attracted $5.5B, up 28% from July 2025. 

Hotel sales were up 61% and senior housing activity increased by 55% from July 2025.

Total sales volume is up a more modest 34% over a rolling 12-month period, with $654B in total transactions tracked by MSCI.

The average cap rate for all transactions in July was 6.89%, up six basis points from the prior month, with hotels having the largest spread at 8.32%. Office trades averaged a 7.54% cap rate, up 12 basis points from last month, and industrial assets saw the widest swing from June with a 28-basis-point increase in cap rates for transactions, which sat at 7.44% for the asset class in July.

The pace of transactions has been accelerating, with volume up 14% in June from the prior year. Deal activity has been outpacing last year more broadly, especially for trades over $25M. Green Street tracked $164B in large transactions in the first half of the year, up 30% from last year.