Investors Are Signaling. Here's What It Actually Means.

Real Estate Insights. Success Mindset. One Step at a Time.

Issue #39 | February 2, 2026

🧠 Market Insights

Investors Are Signaling. Here's What It Actually Means.

CBRE released its investor survey this week. One firm, one snapshot. But the signal is worth paying attention to.

75% of investors they surveyed said they want to buy more commercial real estate in 2026. Another 21% plan to hold steady. That's 96% saying they're at least staying in the game.

Surprising? Not really. Transaction volume has been low for years. Investors have been sitting on capital, waiting for clarity. This survey says the wait is feeling less comfortable. People are ready to redeploy.

Tommy Lee, co-head of capital markets at CBRE, called it the most normal market we've seen since 2019. Bidding pools are getting deeper. Dallas tops the list for the fifth year running. Atlanta, San Francisco, Miami, Charlotte, and Raleigh-Durham right behind.

Normal isn't a headline. But after the last few years? Normal is a pretty good place to be.

But Here's the Catch

Hungry buyers don't mean easy money.

Tariffs are adding 3 to 5% to construction costs across commercial projects. Steel, aluminum, lumber, electrical components. That friction is real, and it's not going away fast.

And the Fed? Still holding. Tariff-driven inflation is keeping rate cuts on the back burner. Borrowing costs aren't dropping the way everyone hoped.

So what does this mean for landowners?

Buyers are active. But they're selecting. Not every parcel gets an offer. Only the dirt that's clean, entitled, and ready to perform gets into the bidding pools.

The Migration Math

One more thing worth watching this week.

Americans are moving. And they're not going where you think.

United Van Lines just released their annual migration data. Oregon hit number one for the first time ever. Florida and Texas are finally seeing balanced migration after years of massive influx. Six of the top ten inbound states are in the South and South Atlantic: West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, and Delaware.

People aren't chasing jobs anymore. They're chasing affordability and family.

What does that mean for land?

Self-storage demand follows workforce housing. Neighborhood retail follows population. Secondary markets with room to breathe are suddenly where the next wave of demand shows up.

Bottom line: Capital is back and it's hunting. But it's hunting for clarity. If your land doesn't have it, you're not in the game.

✨ The Alpha Effect

Discipline Is the Edge

When buyers come back hungry, everyone gets excited.

And that's exactly when the pros slow down.

Here's the thing most people miss: the landowners who win in a competitive market aren't the ones who move fastest. They're the ones who prepared the longest.

While everyone else was sitting on the sidelines in 2024 and early 2025, the smart operators were doing the work. Getting zoning clarity. Running comps. Cleaning title. Mapping infrastructure. Building relationships with planning staff.

They weren't waiting for the market to tell them what to do.

They were getting their dirt ready for when it did.

That's discipline. And discipline is the only edge that compounds.

The temptation right now is to rush. Bidding pools are deeper. Multiple offers are back. The fear of missing out is loud.

But here's what the data actually says: buyers are getting more selective, not less. They want clean deals. Entitled dirt. Clear exit strategies. They have options now, and they're using them.

So the question isn't how fast you can move.

It's how ready you already are.

If you spent the last 18 months doing the work... this is your moment.

If you didn't... the window is still open. But it's getting smaller.

🚀 One Step at a Time

Action Steps This Week

1. Run a Buyer Readiness Check

Pick one parcel. Ask yourself: if a buyer called tomorrow, could you answer every question cleanly? Title status. Zoning. Density potential. Infrastructure access. Comp data. If anything is fuzzy, that's your assignment this week. Clean it up before the competition does.

2. Look at Where People Are Actually Moving

Pull up the United Van Lines migration data. Cross-reference it with your holdings or target markets. Are you positioned where demand is heading next? Secondary markets in the South and South Atlantic are seeing real population shifts right now. That's where self-storage, workforce housing, and neighborhood retail demand follows.

3. Talk to a Buyer This Week

Not to sell. To listen. Call a developer, a land buyer, an investor who's actively closing deals right now. Ask them: What are you looking for? What kills a deal for you? What makes you move fast? Their answers are worth more than any market report.

Small steps compound. Clarity doesn't happen overnight, but momentum builds one strategic decision, one prepared parcel, one honest conversation at a time.

Here's to building your success, one step at a time, from the dirt up.

Kris "Dirt Dawg" McGee 🐾