Commercial property sales picked up sharply in the third quarter at CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm by its own description. The company’s U.S. property sales revenue rose 37%, led by industrial and retail, while its U.S. office leasing revenue slipped 2%.
The Dallas-based company reported revenue of $11.5 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 13% from $10.2 billion a year earlier, according to its third-quarter results released Oct. 22. GAAP net income rose 22% to $443 million, or $1.52 per share. Core earnings per share, CBRE’s adjusted measure, rose 28% to $2.05 from $1.60.
“Financially, core earnings per share improved 28% on a 13% revenue increase, with both resilient and transactional businesses growing by double digits,” Chair and CEO Bob Sulentic said in the release.
Deal activity versus leasing
CBRE’s Advisory Services segment, which houses its brokerage, debt and valuation businesses, is the part of the report that tracks commercial real estate deal activity most closely. Segment revenue rose 11% to $2.44 billion, and segment operating profit rose 16% to $467 million.
Global property sales revenue rose 28%. In the U.S. the increase was 37%, which the company attributed to “accelerated growth in industrial and retail.” Property sales revenue rose 10% in Asia-Pacific (14% in local currency) and 8% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Leasing grew more slowly. Global leasing revenue rose 6% in local currency, and U.S. leasing revenue rose 4%. Within the U.S., industrial leasing was up 16% and office leasing was down 2%. EMEA leasing revenue grew 21%, which CBRE said was driven by the U.K.
The debt side was flatter. Mortgage origination revenue edged up 1%; CBRE said increased lending from private capital sources was “largely offset by lower government agency lending.” The company’s loan servicing portfolio grew 8% during the quarter to more than $500 billion, though servicing revenue dipped as lower escrow income offset higher fees.
Data centers drive the operations business
CBRE’s largest segment by revenue, Building Operations & Experience, grew revenue 17% to $6.86 billion and operating profit 21% to $349 million. Revenue from critical infrastructure services β work on data centers and similar facilities β jumped 80% in local currency. The company cited “continued strong growth in data center services solutions” and the contribution of Pearce Services, which it acquired in November 2025. Facilities management revenue rose 13% and property management revenue 8%.
Across the company, infrastructure services revenue rose 50% to $4.5 billion on a trailing 12-month basis. The push continues: CBRE recently agreed to buy London data center infrastructure firm Onnec in a deal worth up to $1 billion.
Data centers also lifted the development business. Real Estate Investments segment operating profit more than doubled to $166 million from $73 million. Development operating profit was $128 million, which CBRE attributed to “strong data center land sale activity and monetization of other assets.” The in-process development portfolio and pipeline held at $29.6 billion, unchanged from the second quarter. Investment management operating profit fell to $38 million as lower co-investment returns offset higher fees; assets under management ended the quarter above $155 billion.
Project Management was the slowest-growing segment. Revenue rose 3% to $2.04 billion, which the company said was “tempered by a slowdown in corporate capital spending on real estate.” Segment operating profit rose 9%, including a one-time cost in Asia-Pacific that CBRE said reduced the growth rate by six percentage points.
Cash and buybacks
Free cash flow was $927 million in the quarter, up 19%, and $1.8 billion over the trailing 12 months. CBRE has repurchased nearly $1.2 billion of stock so far this year. Net leverage was 1.36 times trailing 12-month core EBITDA at Sept. 30, and total liquidity was $5.0 billion.
On our reading, the regional numbers are the useful signal for the wider market. A 37% rise in U.S. sales revenue suggests investors are trading industrial and retail assets more actively even with borrowing costs elevated, while the 2% dip in U.S. office leasing shows office demand has not shared in the rebound. That fits CoStar’s forecast that U.S. industrial demand will outpace new supply by late 2027. More coverage is in our commercial real estate section.
