The Opportunity Zone program, a national model to spur private investment of housing in underserved areas, has been extended by Congress beyond 2026, marking a significant opportunity for real estate professionals. This innovative initiative not only helps rebuild communities but is a win-win for residents, property developers, and investors. The program’s success in transforming economically distressed areas has proven its value, making it crucial for industry leaders to continue supporting it.

Oracle’s stock recently surged 36 percent in a single day after the announcement of a new deal with OpenAI—a spike that generated an extra $244 billion in market cap for the company. The move fueled increased speculation about a potential AI bubble brewing. Such high-flying stock prices recall the dot-com bubble, when the NASDAQ stock index lost more than 70 percent of its value, dropping from a high of 5,048 in March 2000 to a low of 1,139 in October 2002.

Despite a still tepid transaction market, commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations increased in the second quarter—up 66 percent compared to a year ago, and up 48 percent from the first quarter of 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But what is the outlook for access to debt and equity capital in the second half of the year? Apart from interest rates, where are the biggest pain points in the market for commercial real estate financing?

In 2015, Austin, Texas’ mayor at the time, Steve Adler, brought together business leaders, real estate professionals, and housing experts to take on the crisis in affordable rental housing and the risks it posed to the city’s workforce stability and economic sustainability. With insights and research from a ULI Technical Advisory Panel and ULI’s Terwilliger Center for Housing, the Austin Housing Conservancy fund was born, offering a revolutionary approach to preserving workforce housing. Now known as the Texas Housing Conservancy, the fund became the nation’s first to combine a nonprofit investment manager, Affordable Central Texas, with an open-end private equity fund.

A seminar organized by the ULI Singapore NEXT Committee presented attendees with the little-known concept of real estate “tokenization,” or fractional investing/trading, as a potential bridge between private investors and direct ownership. Although not new, tokenization in real estate is a niche market, particularly in Asia Pacific, with Singapore hosting a small number of the specialized digital platforms.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed the nearly 900-page One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4. The budget reconciliation legislation extends numerous provisions included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that directly affect commercial real estate, including reinstatement of bonus depreciation and extension of the Qualified Opportunity Zone Program. It also incorporates provisions aimed at incentivizing affordable housing, including a significant expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. At the same time, the new law makes major cuts to wind and solar incentives.

During his keynote speech at the 2025 ULI Europe Conference in London on June 18, Daniel Lacalle. chief economist of Spanish private bank Tressis, told real estate business leaders they should be allocating more investment dollars to hard assets such as real estate. “Hold hard assets like there is no tomorrow,” he said. “Hold onto hard assets as much as you can.”

The closing panel at the 2025 ULI Asia Pacific Summit brought together real estate players from a wide range of geographies and capital markets roles. Audience polling at the start of the discussion revealed that Summit attendees believe the world will become more multipolar after a generation of American exceptionalism, with some audience members feeling that the U.S. will fall behind Asia or Europe.

The ULI Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate and the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) brought together executives in the commercial real estate and property insurance industry on May 13, 2025, in conjunction with the ULI Spring Meeting and Resilience Summit in Denver, Colorado, to discuss strategies for operating in this environment of growing risk. As Mary Ludgin, event facilitator and senior advisor at Heitman, noted, “Increased conversation between property owners and insurers is a crucial step in managing risk and controlling costs in a tumultuous time of heightened physical risk.”

Deep discounts, favorable financing, and long-term benefits are turning users into owners.