Transparency is a key factor in global real estate investment growth: JLL study finds transaction volumes rose 64% in highly transparent markets

• Transparency drives investment growth: Highly transparent markets see fastest growth in investment volumes globally over the past two years attracting $1.4 trillion of real estate capital as they benefit from scale, technology and allocations to growing sectors.
• Countries in APAC and MENA lead global transparency improvement: Asia-Pacific accounts for half of the top 10 global improvers, led by India and Vietnam with direct transaction volumes reaching all-time highs in these two markets – attracting $12 billion combined over the past two years, while other MENA markets also showed significant improvement through economic reforms. 
• Alternative sectors, debt markets, digitization and energy are the fastest-moving transparency frontiers: Gains are being boosted by improvements in alternative sectors, credit markets and energy performance tracking, with digitization contributing to progress as over 90% of occupiers and investors now use AI tools.

CHICAGO, September 14, 2026 – JLL (NYSE: JLL) today released the 14th edition of its Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI), revealing two-thirds of global markets increased transparency over the past two years. While established markets continue to capture the majority of global capital, countries in APAC and MENA have emerged as primary engines of global transparency gains due to rapid digitization and proactive government reforms.

As market conditions become increasingly segmented, commercial real estate transparency is increasingly key to global liquidity and capital allocation. Transaction volumes in the "Highly Transparent" group have risen by 64% over the past two years, outpacing the rest of the world by 20 percentage points. Because investors require scale, early price discovery and reliable data to mitigate risk, these thirteen markets now represent 56% of total income-producing real estate worldwide and more than 80% of global direct investment.

“Transparency is no longer just a benchmark for market maturity: it’s a prerequisite for global capital deployment,” said Richard Bloxam, CEO of Capital Markets at JLL. “In a period of uncertainty, investors are prioritizing markets with strong digital infrastructure, robust data disclosure and regulatory clarity. The reforms underway across a number of APAC and MENA markets will help improve operating conditions, narrow the transparency gap with established global hubs and unlock cross-border investment.”

Five countries in Asia-Pacific generated the strongest transparency gains in this year’s survey, accounting for half of the top 10 improvers worldwide. India led the upward trajectory through the expansion of its digital infrastructure, enhanced market data availability and expanding REIT market. Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, already one of the world's most transparent countries, and Thailand also made major strides by strengthening corporate governance standards, refining legal enforcement and expanding disclosure around alternative property sectors. As a result, cross-border investment into Asia-Pacific has rebounded sharply, driving direct transaction volumes in key markets such as India and Vietnam to all-time highs.

Beyond traditional property sectors, greater transparency is expanding the investable universe into more operationally intensive and non-traditional real estate. Alternative asset classes such as data centers and infrastructure now account for 20% of direct transaction volumes globally and investors in these sectors are placing greater emphasis on transparency around energy grid capacity and power resilience.

“Over the last cycle transparency gains have concentrated in debt markets and niche and alternative sectors, which are all gradually approaching the data availability in the traditional sectors,” said Dominic Silman, Chief Economist for LaSalle. “As transparency in an alternative sector improves, that’s often a leading indicator of growing institutionalization and investment.”

At the same time, regulatory changes are bringing an influx of private wealth, retail and pension capital into real estate, creating a greater need for standardized, higher-frequency reporting and valuation transparency.

1. Why is transparency in some markets in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East improving so rapidly compared to the rest of the world?

These countries are seeing the results of long-term government strategies aimed at economic diversification and attracting foreign investment. Rather than incremental changes, governments in places like India, Vietnam and South Korea are executing sweeping tech-forward reforms and enforcing stricter corporate governance.
 

2. How is improved transparency impacting real estate investment in the most improved markets in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions?

Transparency provides the price discovery and risk mitigation that institutional investors require. As these markets have improved their data availability and regulatory frameworks, capital has followed. We are seeing cross-border investment into APAC rebound sharply, with direct transaction volumes in both India and Vietnam hitting all-time historic highs.
 

3. What specific technologies are driving transparency improvements?

It ranges from fundamental digital infrastructure to advanced AI. Governments are making significant progress in digitizing land registries, planning services and public records, providing real-time, disaggregated and publicly accessible property data. Globally, over 90% of occupiers and investors are now using AI tools to analyze market fundamentals, making centralized government data more valuable than ever for predicting capital markets opportunities.
 

4. The report notes that global transaction volumes in "Highly Transparent" markets rose 64%. Does that mean capital is ignoring emerging markets?

Not at all. Highly transparent markets account for about 80% of direct investment because they have the deepest capital markets and scale. However, there are significant untapped opportunities in a number of rapidly improving markets outside this group. As APAC and MENA markets close the transparency gap, they are likely to capture a larger share of global capital.
 

5. Beyond traditional office, logistics and retail sectors, how is transparency evolving?

Alternative sectors such as data centers, manufacturing and infrastructure now account for 20% of direct transaction volumes globally, double their share from ten years ago. Transparency in 2026 isn't just about knowing building rents; it's about having clear data on operating expenses, energy capacity and costs and evolving regulatory environments.

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