In 2026, sentiment across private real estate feels more positive than it has in a while. In conversations with asset managers, investors, and fund teams, the expectation is broadly the same: activity is coming back.
The real question is whether firms are actually ready to execute.
At the end of 2025, we ran a survey with more than 60 senior real estate professionals across investment, asset management, portfolio, and data and operations roles, looking at how firms are preparing for the year ahead. The pattern is clear.
Optimism is back. Execution readiness is uneven.
Data, not intent, is the constraint
Most respondents expect activity to increase in 2026. But when you look beyond intent, the same issues keep surfacing: manual processes, fragmented systems, inconsistent lease data, and low confidence in reporting.
Confidence in core real estate data remains low across much of the market. And that lack of confidence shows up everywhere: in slower decision-making, investor reporting, and how quickly teams can move when opportunities appear.
Where PRODA customers differ
One of the most striking findings in the data is the difference between PRODA customers and the rest of the sample.
Across multiple questions, PRODA customers consistently report:
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Higher confidence in the accuracy of their core data
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Stronger perceived trust from investors and lenders
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More progress on automation, with work already underway rather than still being evaluated
The pattern is consistent. Firms with more standardized and automated data foundations are simply better positioned to execute.
The same bottlenecks keep showing up
When we asked where automation would deliver the most value, responses clustered around the same three areas:
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Lease and rent roll standardization
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Reducing manual data handling
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Improving reporting accuracy and consistency
This isn’t about edge cases or advanced analytics. It’s about getting the basics right.
Understandably, firms with more mature data practices are much more likely to say this work is already underway.
What this means for 2026
As activity returns, the gap between firms that can execute cleanly and those that can’t is likely to widen.
The firms moving fastest aren’t necessarily the most aggressive, they’re the ones that:
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Have standardized lease and asset-level data
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Spend less time cleaning spreadsheets
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Trust the numbers they share internally and externally
That’s not a technology decision. It’s an operating model decision.
Download the survey findings here.
Survey methodology
Survey conducted in December 2025 with 62 senior real estate professionals across investment, asset management, portfolio and fund management, and data, operations, and ESG roles. Percentages are rounded to whole numbers.
To receive a copy of the analysis or learn more about how PRODA helps asset owners and investment managers standardize their data with accuracy and ease, book a meeting.
