The first half of the year brought uncertainty with a new administration, tariffs, and DOGE cuts. Missoula saw federal spending reductions at the Forest Service, the University of Montana, the Mansfield Center, and more. The second half of the year is off to a stronger start, with businesses and households adapting to the new environment.
Summer isn’t slow in commercial real estate. It’s a sprint. The volume of tenant tours often jumps from June through August, with lease signings peaking in late July.
In CRE, artificial intelligence has gone from experiment to essential. Today’s AI tools digest massive datasets—traffic, demographics, economic shifts, even online sentiment—to guide site selection faster and more accurately than any traditional approach.
Appraisals play a critical role in every commercial real estate transaction. Whether you’re buying, selling, refinancing, or investing, understanding the appraisal process can help you make informed decisions and move forward with confidence.
The U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) market in 2025 reflects a landscape of cautious optimism, driven by steady recovery but tempered by significant financial headwinds. For investors and stakeholders, understanding these dynamics is critical to navigating opportunities and risks in the year ahead.
As we close out the second quarter of 2025, the commercial real estate market in the greater Helena Metropolitan Statistical Area — including Helena, Montana City, East Helena, and Clancy — is showing signs of underlying strength, even amid macroeconomic headwinds.
Total U.S. commercial real estate volume was $100.6 billion in 1Q25, up 14% year-over-year and individual asset sales were up 24% year-over-year, although both figures are below pre-pandemic levels. Retail assets performed the best, followed by industrial, multifamily and suburban offices while CBD office properties lagged behind, according to MSCI Real Assets.
CRE activity has increased as buyers and sellers have moved closer together on transactions than at any point in the past 18 months. While challenges such as high interest rates, tariff uncertainty, construction costs, and labor issues still persist, many sellers who were waiting for conditions to improve have adjusted their expectations – and pricing – while buyers have found creative ways to close deals.
As the midpoint of 2025 nears, commercial real estate (CRE) is emerging as the unexpected market standout—outperforming even residential housing in total returns.
As businesses and individuals generate massive amounts of data, the demand for data center real estate has surged, creating both opportunities and challenges in the commercial real estate (CRE) sector.
