MIPIM: Towards a More Selective, Demanding, and Strategic Real Estate Market

Since 2024, MIPIM has no longer been a stage for a continuously expanding market. It has become a mirror reflecting a sector under pressure, forced to rethink its fundamentals: financing, asset types, ESG requirements, and risk management. For players in real estate, construction, and architecture, the 2024 and 2025 editions marked a turning point. The 2026 edition is expected to confirm the structural consequences.

2024: The End of an Expansion Cycle

The 2024 edition took place in a harsh environment, with rising interest rates, credit constraints, a drop in investment volumes, and valuation adjustments. Residential real estate, long considered a safe haven, entered a phase of significant contraction, with slowdowns in new construction, margin pressures, increasingly complex financial structuring, and greater reliance on public support mechanisms. The sector was no longer a growth engine but constrained.

Office real estate, meanwhile, began a deep transformation. The question was no longer how to produce, but how to transform. Prime assets held up, while secondary assets became increasingly difficult to refinance. The message from 2024 was clear: real estate is entering an era of extreme selectivity.

2025: Capital Reallocation and Rising Standards

At MIPIM 2025, the atmosphere was more pragmatic than pessimistic. Financial markets stabilized, but caution remained dominant. Three key structural dynamics emerged.

First, a clear sectoral reallocation occurred. Capital shifted toward logistics, infrastructure, data centers, and opportunistic hospitality. These asset classes offer better long-term visibility and align with structural trends such as digitalization, energy transition, and supply chain reconfiguration.

Second, accelerated obsolescence became evident. Energy-inefficient, poorly located, or inflexible buildings turned into high-risk assets, making transformation and repurposing strategic priorities.

Third, increased professionalization took center stage. Data, AI, and predictive tools became essential instruments for risk management. The market now rewards rigor and penalizes improvisation. The speculative cycle has ended, and the strategic cycle has begun.

2026: Consolidation and Discipline

MIPIM 2026 is expected to confirm the arrival of a more disciplined market. New developments will be rarer but stronger, only coming to life under strict conditions such as solid pre-leasing, secure financing, demonstrable ESG performance, and built-in flexibility from the design stage.

The market transformation also drives a shift in talent requirements. Hybrid profiles capable of navigating finance, technical aspects, regulations, and strategy will become decisive.

Market polarization will continue, with prime assets attracting capital while secondary assets will need to transform or exit the market.

This year, the Highline Global team will be present at MIPIM 2026 to observe, analyze, and engage with key market players. The exhibition confirms that 2026 will not be marked by a spectacular rebound. The market is becoming more mature, more demanding, and more selective.

Real estate is entering a phase of strategic consolidation where competence, foresight, and discipline will determine the success of market participants. Our presence at MIPIM will allow us to interpret these trends, identify opportunities, and support our clients in making informed strategic decisions.

Connect with Highline at MIPIM 2026 to navigate the next phase of strategic real estate consolidation.